Titans co-captain Greg Bird insists that the greatest depth in the club's short history will ensure little disruption ahead of Monday night's clash with the Cowboys despite a new-look spine for the second week in succession.
Gold Coast received some much-needed good news on the injury front on Sunday morning with five-eighth Aidan Sezer cleared to take his place in the side but a hamstring tear to William Zillman means David Mead shifts from the wing to fullback, with Anthony Don coming onto the wing.
Mead has made just four appearances at fullback in his 92-game career to date but Bird believes his experience there last season – where he played three games in the No.1 jumper – and added depth in the backs is sufficient to get the job done against the Cowboys.
"I know he likes playing there, I know he wants to play fullback it's just the fact that we've got a classy fullback like William Zillman in front of him that forces him onto the wing," said Bird. "He's got an opportunity now to show his wares and I'm sure he's going to grab it with both hands.
"It fits his style of play because he wants the ball in his hands and he's a fit lad so I'm sure he'll go well for us.
"We've got a lot more depth this year than we've had in the past. In years past I probably would have said that it would have disrupted the preparation a fair bit but we've got a lot of blokes just biting at their heels waiting to jump on board and get a go.
"Anthony Don's got the nod this week and there are blokes like [Kalifa] Faifai Loa who would have been stoked, 'Bobby' Blair's there in the background and there are a lot of guys who have the ability to play first grade every week.
"We've got the luxury of a bit of depth, which is something that we haven't had."
Coach John Cartwright was delighted to his five-eighth, primary kicker in general play and goal-kicker get through his second session of the week and also put his faith in Mead providing excellent cover for Zillman.
"It's a position that he likes playing and that's half the battle sometimes. If you enjoy something you tend to do your best at it," Cartwright said.
"He handled it well last year. Initially when we threw him back there it was a battle but he knows what to expect now and he's fit. He's been doing a lot of extra work, I don't think that will be a problem for him.
"Physically it's a tough role, it's as tough as anywhere to play. It's high intensity, high speed and you're pretty much got to be everywhere in attack and defence.
"When you're at fullback you're in the game the whole time so it's maintaining that concentration for the whole 80 minutes and you've got a lot of decisions to make back there, it's a really tough role."
