NRL: Titans sweat on Laffranchi

Anthony Laffranchi of the Titans. Photo / Getty Images

Gold Coast will be sweating on the results of scans to back-rower Anthony Laffranchi's right ankle on Monday as the Titans prepare to get their NRL season back on track against the Wests Tigers.

Laffranchi played little part in the second half after leaving the field in the Titans' 22-12 loss to the Cowboys on Friday night.

A Titans spokesman confirmed that Laffranchi would see a specialist on Monday and said that it was too early to speculate on how bad the injury was.

There was some good news for the Titans, who have one win from five games, with hard-working lock Ashley Harrison progressing well after missing the Cowboys game with a hamstring injury.

He is rated a good chance of playing the Tigers at Skilled Park on Friday night.

One man who will definitely be there for the Titans is five-eighth Greg Bird, who returns from suspension.

Bird, the field goal hero in the Titans' round-four win against Canberra, missed the Cowboys match after pleading guilty to striking Raiders halfback Matt Orford.

Coach John Cartwright welcomed back Nathan Friend to the side on Friday night for the first time this season after recovering from a shoulder injury.

"Friendy is Friendy; he'll work hard and he'll continue to do that," he said.

"It was hard for any of our guys with the ball to do too much as we did a lot of hard work out of our own end, but he'll be better for the run for sure."

Also hoping for a better run against the Tigers, who are coming off a 30-6 win over South Sydney, will be captain Scott Prince, a late inclusion in the Titans squad after passing a fitness test.

Prince admitted to feeling a little off his best after missing the Raiders match with a hamstring injury.

"The hamstring felt all right, a little bit under done and I was probably off the pace a little bit," he said.

"At the end of the day, it's positive and we'll build on that next week.

Cartwright said his side found themselves in an unfamiliar situation at the bottom of the table, but believed it was only a matter of time until they turned the results around.

"It's a bit different start to the season to what we've had in the past and we've got to reassess where we are," Cartwright said.

"I've got no problem with what we can do and what we're getting close to. There's a lot of effort there and we turned that around at halftime and we've got to roll up our sleeves and get ready for the Tigers."

- AAP