Aaron Woods v Luke Douglas
Aaron Woods goes into this season with the added experience of a Four Nations tournament with Australia and is desperate to achieve success on a Club level with Wests Tigers in 2015.
Luke Douglas, along with skipper Nate Myles, are the Gold Coast Titan’s two key men and will steer an otherwise inexperienced group around the park.
Both Woods and Douglas are known for their go forward so expect a close battle between the pair in terms of metre-making as they look to lead their side to a victory in the season opener.
Career Head-to-Head clashes: Played 3 – Woods 2, Douglas 1
NRL Fantasy Prices: Woods $426,000, Douglas $290,000
Woods: “It has been a long pre-season and the boys are all ready to go. We just can't wait to get out there and play some footy to be honest. We enjoy training but it's better when there's a game to look forward to on the weekend. We need to put in practice what we have been working on during pre-season.”
Dene Halatau v Nate Myles
Dene Halatau will start this season fully fit, a very different scenario to last year where he suffered a broken ankle during the Club’s first trial and his return match to the Wests Tigers after a stint with Canterbury.
Nate Myles goes into this clash with the tough assignment of captaining a fairly inexperienced Gold Coast Titans side; however the Queensland Representative has won six of his past nine clashes with Wests Tigers.
Both Halatau and Myles have a long history against one another, sitting at five wins a piece during their lengthy careers. This one shapes up to be an intriguing battle in the middle of the park and fans can expect a very physical battle at Cbus Super Stadium.
Career Head-to-Head clashes: Played 10 – Halatau 5, Myles 5
NRL Fantasy Prices: Halatau $184,000, Myles $320,000
Halatau: “It’s a matter of working on what we have been doing in the pre-season and just worrying about our own backyard so to speak. In Round 1 you don’t get to see a lot of tape of other teams and how they have been tracking form-wise so our main focus is on our own preparations.”
Mitchell Moses v Aidan Sezer
While Wests Tigers fans only got see a brief glimpse of Mitchell Moses towards the backend of last season, the Carlingford junior impressed in what was a tough initiation to NRL football – recording nine try-assists in 10 games.
Aiden Sezer suffered an injury-plagued 2014 season, tearing his pectoral muscle in Round 10 and subsequently playing just 13 games. Starting the year at five-eighth, the former Bulldogs junior will look to provide speedsters James Roberts, David Mead and Kevin Gordon with plenty of quality ball on the edges.
Both fairly inexperienced halves, the battle between Moses and Sezer will have a huge bearing on the outcome of this match and both will be keen establish themselves firmly in their respective side’s number six jersey.
Career Head-to-Head clashes: Yet to play at an NRL level.
NRL Fantasy Prices: Moses $169,000, Myles $337,000
Moses: “I'm looking forward to just getting out there for that first game of the year. I'm really excited and I know the rest of the boys are too. There's a good vibe around the Club with JT (Jason Taylor) coming on board this year so everyone is keen to get out there."
