KEY POINTS:
Having never played NRL finals football, tireless backrower Mark Minichiello is desperately hoping Gold Coast can win their next three matches to secure a top-eight spot.
The Titans must defeat the resurgent Sydney Roosters at Carrara on Sunday and then beat Cronulla and Melbourne on the road or
else start preparing for Mad Monday.
It's a daunting task considering Gold Coast have won the chocolates in away games only twice this year while claiming a solid 7-4 home record.
Minichiello made his debut for the Roosters in 2002 but didn't feature in the finals squad that won the premiership with a 30-8 victory over Warriors in the grand final.
He then joined South Sydney in a barren period for the Rabbitohs from 2003-06 before co-owners Peter Holmes a Court and Russell Crowe helped turned the club into a finals contender.
Titans co-captain Luke Bailey and City Origin representative Minichiello said yesterday they'd be gutted if the club missed the finals in its inaugural season.
"We train hard all year and to come so close, it'd be an empty feeling," Minichiello said.
"I can't wait to taste NRL semifinals. I really want to play in that arena."
Bailey added: "I'm sick of hearing if we finish 10th, 11th or 12th then we've had a good year.
"Bugger that, I want to make the top eight.
"I didn't come here to not play finals footy and a lot of blokes are in the same boat.
"Blokes like Minichiello have busted their arse all year and never made a semifinal, I think he'd be disappointed as well."
Titans centre Mat Rogers (knee) has declared himself a certain starter against the Roosters but coach John Cartwright says he won't make a final decision on fullback Chris Walker (hamstring) or winger Matt Petersen (knee) until tomorrow.
Cartwright warned his players to be wary of tackling opponents around the neck region as the referees were certain to clamp down even harder on grapple tackles in round 23 following a week of negative publicity.
"We're a little bit smaller than the average side in the NRL so we have to work harder on the ground at slowing up the play-the-ball," Cartwright said.
"I think there could be a lot of penalties this week for any intention around the neck.
"We have to make sure we're aware that we have to stay away from that region."
Under caretaker coach Brad Fittler, the Roosters are undefeated in their past five games and sit on 21 competition points - one better than the 11th-placed Titans.
Minichiello said the key to beating the Roosters was to smash them up the middle of the park to tire their big men.
"If we can win that ruck area we can come home strong, roll over them and play good footy off the back of that," he added.
"Everyone knows this is our last chance and we have to get it right."
- AAP