Club champion Moeaki Fotuaika will return for the Gold Coast as coach Justin Holbrook warned his team needed a collective approach to fix their poor start when they face leading premiership contenders Parramatta on Sunday.
Fotuaika missed last week's season-opening loss to Canberra due to off-season knee and wrist surgery but has trained strongly this week and will play off the bench as the Titans look to get their 2020 firing with their first home game at Cbus Super Stadium.
The powerful front-rower was the Titans' best player in 2019, averaging 133 metres and 50 post-contact metres per game, to be crowned their Paul Broughton Medallist. His return will add some grunt to a forward pack that will need to be at its best in the face of a versatile Eels team.
"Mo is back this week which is great," Holbrook said.
"He is raring to go and has had a couple of really good weeks at training now so he will be a great addition for us."
Titans v Eels - Round 2
Holbrook expects a big turnaround in attitude from his team this week against the Eels. They trailed 18-0 by half-time in the loss to the Raiders and were behind by the same deficit in their last trial game against the Broncos before storming to victory.
The coach is prepared to put last Saturday's sleepy start down to a poor road trip to Canberra, but says there will be no excuses for being slow out of the blocks at home.
"We said after the game we didn't start the game well and that is definitely something we need to improve on," Holbrook said.
"The preparation is different because we're not travelling. I think we didn't handle that well as a group last week, that is what I put it down to.
"In terms of this week we're at home, it's a different scenario again for us and we will be ready to go.
"I just thought collectively early in the game we were flat and that was the most disappointing thing, if we fix that up it will be okay.
"For us it's just about being proud of the way we play. I think we let ourselves down last week and from what I've seen all preseason, the trials and the Nines, that is not what we displayed last week and we have a chance tomorrow to do that."
