With the Broncos and Cowboys out of the finals hunt Scott Prince believes Queensland rugby league fans will rally behind the Gold Coast Titans with State of Origin-like intensity for their NRL finals series match against the New Zealand Warriors on Friday.
"It's a good feeling knowing we'll be carryingthe expectations of all Queenslanders," said Prince, who'll play with the aid of a pre-game painkilling injection.
"It's just unfortunate the Broncos didn't make it and the Cowboys as well.
"I think there might be a bit of a State of Origin feel about it (the Titans)."
The Titans will fly the Queensland flag with Prince and utility Mat Rogers sharing the opinion the team are better equipped to win the grand final than last season when they lost their qualifying final 40-32 to Brisbane before being eliminated in the semifinals 27-2 by Parramatta.
"Last year was a massive learning curve and only time will tell if we've learned from it," said Prince, still hurting from last year's straight sets finals exit.
"It was tough, making the finals for the first time and bowing out after two games was very hard to swallow.
"That's still sitting in the back of my mind for sure."
Prince (shoulder) and the other half of the Titans' dynamic duo, Preston Campbell (hamstring), were supremely confident today of playing in Friday night's first qualifying final at Skilled Park.
So too was retiring utility Mat Rogers, battling a hip injury, who said the 2010 Titans had the belief they could go all the way after lessons learned last year.
"I think we all believe we can do it, I definitely do," said Rogers, who'll get another farewell from a packed Skilled Park crowd on Friday night.
"The big difference though is we're a much better team. We were a team last year, but we're a lot tighter as a group now."
Rogers revealed he was concerned before last week's game against Wests Tigers that his hip injury could derail his farewell finals campaign.
"It's only going to get better from here but I was genuinely concerned about it before last Friday's game," he said.
"I was real worried but very happy I got through it."
