The Titans start to the season went from bad to worse after news they'll be without skipper Tino Fa'asuamaleaui for the rest of the year and the going only gets tougher as they prepare to face a rested and recouped Dolphins.
Kept scoreless by the Bulldogs at Belmore on Saturday, the Titans have some soul searching to do before they host their Queensland rivals and chase the victory that can kick start their season.
With Fa'asuamaleaui sidelined, the next generation of Titans forwards will need to rise to the occasion and lay the platform to hand Kieran Foran and Tanah Boyd the chance to produce some much-needed spark in attack.
The Dolphins, meanwhile, will be raring to go after their bye, hoping to pick up from where they left off after producing a stunning turnaround in Round 2 to down the Dragons 38-0 in Redcliffe.
With Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow unstoppable at fullback with a Round 2 hat-trick and young playmaker Isaiya Katoa slotting into No. 7 seamlessly, the Dolphins will be hoping to find some consistency and get their first back-to-back wins for the season.
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Team News
Titans: Some much-needed good news following last weekend’s crushing loss of captain Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, with Jayden Campbell named to return at fullback and David Fifita [pectoral] also confirmed to join the 17 on game day after originally being named among the reserves. Campbell, who returned from his own knee injury in Queensland Cup last weekend, replaces Keano Kini in the No.1 jersey. Keenan Palasia has failed to overcome a quad strain picked up at training this week and is replaced in the starting side by Isaac Liu.
Dolphins: The Dolphins are 1-17 with no late changes. Ray Stone returns from concussion and replaces Jarrod Wallace on the bench in the only change to the 17 which hammered the Dragons in Round 2. The bye last week means Kodi Nikorima is good to go after picking up a head knock in Round 2 and he’ll once again partner Isaiya Katoa in the halves.
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Stat Attack
- The Titans have won only one of their past four games at Cbus Super Stadium.
- The Dolphins won both games against the Titans by two points in 2023.
- Titans winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira has scored nine tries in his past 12 games at Cbus Super
Stadium. - Dolphins winger Jamayne Isaako has scored 10 tries in his past eight NRL games.
- The Titans have scored only one try in their opening two games.
Stats supplied by David Middleton, League Information Services, author of the official annual of the NRL.
This article contains content that is only available on NRL.com