# 2008 Gold Coast Titans season

The 2008 Gold Coast Titans season was the 2nd in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2008 Telstra Premiership coached by John Cartwright and co-captained by Luke Bailey and Scott Prince. After 10 rounds of the premiership the Titans found themselves leading the competition with 7 wins from 9 games before slumping to finish the regular season 13th (out of 16) and failing to make the finals. Preston Campbell was awarded the Paul Broughton Medal for the club's player of the year.

## Summary
### Milestones

* Round 1: Four players made their debuts for the club; Jordan Atkins, Aaron Cannings, Ashley Harrison and Ben Jeffery. Jordan Atkins also made his NRL debut.
* Round 1: Jordan Atkins broke the club record for most tries scored by an individual in a single match.
* Round 2: Nathan Friend scored his 1st career try.
* Round 4: Daniel Conn scored his 1st career try.
* Round 7: Brenton Bowen made his debut for the club, after previously playing for the North Queensland Cowboys.
* Round 10: Shannon Walker made his debut for the club and his debut in the NRL.
* Round 12: Esikeli Tonga made his debut for the club and his debut in the NRL.
* Round 12: Brett Delaney played his 50th career game.
* Round 13: Brad Davis made his debut for the club and his debut in the NRL.
* Round 15: Mat Rogers played his 150th career game.
* Round 16: Will Matthews made his debut for the club and his debut in the NRL.
* Round 17: Brenton Bowen and Luke O'Dwyer played their 50th career game.
* Round 18: Michael Henderson played his 50th career game.
* Round 18: Two players made their debuts for the club; Matthew Cross and Jordan Rapana. Jordan Rapana also made his NRL debut and scored his 1st career try.
* Round 21: Preston Campbell played his 200th career game.
* Round 22: Jordan Rankin made his debut for the club and his debut in the NRL.
* Round 23: Michael Hodgson played his 150th career game and Esikeli Tonga scored his 1st career try.
* Round 26: Two players made their debuts for the club; Selasi Berdie and Billy Ngawini. Selasi Berdie also made his NRL debut.

## Squad movement
### Gains

| Players | Previous Club | Until End of |
| Brenton Bowen | North Queensland Cowboys | 2009 |
| Aaron Cannings | Parramatta Eels | 2010 |
| Matthew Cross | Penrith Panthers | 2009 |
| Ashley Harrison | Sydney Roosters | 2010 |
| Ben Jeffery | Wests Tigers | 2009 |
| Billy Ngawini | Bulldogs | 2008 |

### Losses

| Players | Club | Until End of |
| Matt Hilder | Newcastle Knights | 2009 |
| Richard Mathers | Wigan Warriors | 2010 |
| David Myles | Retired | |
| Lelea Paea | Released | |
| Matthew Petersen | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (Mid-season) | 2010 |
| Jake Webster | Hull Kingston Rovers | 2010 |

### Re-signings

| Players | Club | Until End of |
| Preston Campbell | Gold Coast Titans | 2009 |
| Nathan Friend | Gold Coast Titans | 2009 |
| Josh Graham | Gold Coast Titans | 2010 |
| Michael Henderson | Gold Coast Titans | 2012 |
| Anthony Laffranchi | Gold Coast Titans | 2011 |
| Will Matthews | Gold Coast Titans | 2011 |
| Brad Meyers | Gold Coast Titans | 2010 |
| Jordan Rankin | Gold Coast Titans | 2011 |
| Shannon Walker | Gold Coast Titans | 2010 |

## Ladder

2008 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 584 | 282 | +302 | 38 |
| 2 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (P) | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 645 | 355 | +290 | 38 |
| 3 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 451 | 384 | +67 | 38 |
| 4 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 511 | 446 | +65 | 34 |
| 5 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 560 | 452 | +108 | 33 |
| 6 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 640 | 527 | +113 | 30 |
| 7 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 489 | 378 | +111 | 30 |
| 8 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 502 | 567 | -65 | 30 |
| 9 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 516 | 486 | +30 | 28 |
| 10 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 528 | 560 | -32 | 26 |
| 11 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 501 | 547 | -46 | 26 |
| 12 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 504 | 611 | -107 | 25 |
| 13 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 476 | 586 | -110 | 24 |
| 14 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 453 | 666 | -213 | 20 |
| 15 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 474 | 638 | -164 | 14 |
| 16 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 433 | 782 | -349 | 14 |

## Fixtures
### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| Friday, 14 March | Round 1 | North Queensland Cowboys | Skilled Park | 36 – 18 | Atkins (4), Bailey, Laffranchi | Prince (6/8) | 26,974 |
| Monday, 24 March | Round 2 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | WIN Stadium | 12 – 30 | Friend, Minichiello | Prince (2/2) | 10,521 |
| Saturday, 29 March | Round 3 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Skilled Park | 18 – 4 | Rogers, Meyers, Atkins | Prince (3/3), Jeffery (0/1) | 19,050 |
| Saturday, 5 April | Round 4 | Canberra Raiders | Skilled Park | 32 – 12 | Bailey, O'Dwyer, Laffranchi, Conn, Jeffery, Minichiello | Prince (4/7) | 17,381 |
| Friday, 11 April | Round 5 | Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Stadium | 28 – 20 | Petersen, Cannings, Friend, Prince, Graham | Prince (4/5) | 13,321 |
| Friday, 18 April | Round 6 | Brisbane Broncos | Skilled Park | 26 – 24 | Petersen (3), Harrison, Laffranchi | Prince (3/5) | 27,176 |
| Sunday, 27 April | Round 7 | New Zealand Warriors | Skilled Park | 36 – 24 | Harrison, Jeffery, Meyers, Campbell, Laffranchi, Bowen | Prince (6/7) | 25,310 |
| Saturday, 3 May | Round 8 | Newcastle Knights | EnergyAustralia Stadium | 12 – 13 | Prince, Minichiello | Prince (2/2) | 21,280 |
| | Round 9 | Bye | | | | | |
| Friday, 16 May | Round 10 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Skilled Park | 24 – 20 | Samau, Meyers, Luke O'Dwyer, Prince | Prince (4/5) | 22,676 |
| Sunday, 25 May | Round 11 | Wests Tigers | Leichhardt Oval | 18 – 20 | Cannings, Bowen, Campbell | Prince (3/3) | 17,493 |
| Sunday, 1 June | Round 12 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Toyota Stadium | 14 – 30 | Minichiello, O'Dwyer, Delaney | Prince (1/3) | 8,214 |
| Monday, 9 June | Round 13 | Melbourne Storm | Skilled Park | 18 – 0 | Delaney, Meyers, Jeffery | Rogers (3/4) | 19,409 |
| | Round 14 | Bye | | | | | |
| Monday, 23 June | Round 15 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | ANZ Stadium | 23 – 24 | Laffranchi (2), Prince, Atkins | Prince (4/6) | 9,827 |
| Saturday, 28 June | Round 16 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Skilled Park | 22 – 26 | Jeffery, Delaney, O'Dwyer, Rogers | Rogers (3/5) | 26,453 |
| Friday, 4 July | Round 17 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Skilled Park | 14 – 34 | Laffranchi (2) | Rogers (3/3) | 21,374 |
| Friday, 11 July | Round 18 | Sydney Roosters | Sydney Football Stadium | 32 – 28 | Jeffery (2), Rapana (2), Rogers, Graham | Rogers (4/6) | 10,762 |
| Saturday, 19 July | Round 19 | Penrith Panthers | Skilled Park | 22 – 36 | Rapana, O'Dwyer, Laffranchi, Hodgson | Rogers (3/4) | 17,759 |
| Saturday, 26 July | Round 20 | Canberra Raiders | Canberra Stadium | 4 – 46 | Laffranchi | Davis (0/1) | 8,700 |
| Friday, 1 August | Round 21 | Melbourne Storm | Olympic Park Stadium | 4 – 44 | Rapana | Rogers (0/1) | 9,400 |
| Monday, 11 August | Round 22 | Newcastle Knights | Skilled Park | 12 – 32 | Rapana, Meyers | Campbell (2/2) | 15,136 |
| Saturday, 16 August | Round 23 | North Queensland Cowboys | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 26 – 20 | Laffranchi (2), Rogers, Campbell, Tonga | Prince (3/5) | 17,605 |
| Friday, 22 August | Round 24 | Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium | 21 – 25 | Campbell, Rogers, Josh Graham | Prince (4/4) & (FG) | 39,757 |
| Monday, 1 September | Round 25 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Brookvale Oval | 10 – 28 | Cooper, Atkins | Prince (1/2) | 14,755 |
| Sunday, 7 September | Round 26 | Wests Tigers | Skilled Park | 12 – 28 | Prince, Delaney | Prince (2/2) | 20,723 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye ||||||||

## Statistics

| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| Clint Amos | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan Atkins | 14 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Luke Bailey | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Selasi Berdie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brenton Bowen | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Preston Campbell | 21 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 20 |
| Aaron Cannings | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Daniel Conn | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Gavin Cooper | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Matthew Cross | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brad Davis | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brett Delaney | 23 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Nathan Friend | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Josh Graham | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Ashley Harrison | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Michael Henderson | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michael Hodgson | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Ben Jeffery | 19 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Anthony Laffranchi | 20 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
| Josh Lewis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Will Matthews | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brad Meyers | 15 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Mark Minichiello | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Billy Ngawini | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Luke O'Dwyer | 21 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Matthew Petersen | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Scott Prince | 16 | 5 | 51 | 2 | 124 |
| Jordan Rankin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan Rapana | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Mat Rogers | 17 | 5 | 16 | 0 | 52 |
| Smith Samau | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| James Stosic | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Luke Swain | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Esikeli Tonga | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Shannon Walker | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | — | 84 | 69 | 2 | 476 |
Source: NRL 2008 - Gold Coast Titans Summary

## Representative honours

The following players played a representative match in 2008.
Australian Kangaroos
* Anthony Laffranchi
* Scott Prince
Mate Ma'a Tonga
* Esikeli Tonga
NSW Blues
* Anthony Laffranchi
NSW City Origin
* Brett Delaney
* Mark Minichiello
NSW Country Origin
* Anthony Laffranchi
Queensland Maroons
* Ashley Harrison
* Scott Prince
Toa Samoa
* Smith Samau