Saturday, Skilled Park, 7.45pm
Referee: Bernard Sutton

The Dragons are missing Matt Cooper to State of Origin and Mark Gasnier injured, while the Titans have lost two to Origin, Scott Prince and Anthony Laffranchi. The loss of halfback Prince is the key. He has been one of the best-performed players in the NRL this season and since everything the Titans do revolves around him his absence will have a huge impact on the result of this game. Can the Titans win without him? They can, but it will take an enormous effort from their forward pack. They will need to dominate the Dragons and restrict their pointscoring potential, because the Titans will find it much harder to score without Prince pulling the strings.

The Titans are unbeaten at home this season, but the Dragons are favourites for this game with the bookmakers. That is how important the absence of Prince is viewed. The Dragons have won five in a row. They haven't always been convincing during that stretch and they have had a bit of luck with the draw, facing the Storm and the Broncos when those teams didn't have their multitude of Origin stars, but they have been solid and are certainly capable of getting the job done on the road here.

LATE MAIL
Titans lock Daniel Conn (shoulder) may play against St George Illawarra tomorrow night, despite not originally being named, while winger Jordan Atkins (knee) and Luke Swain (facial cut) are both in doubt. Coach John Cartwright said he would make a decision after training today.

Dragons 18th man Kirk Reynoldson remains a chance of playing.
Glenn Jackson

TITANS: Preston Campbell, Ben Jeffrey, Luke O'Dwyer, Brett Delaney, Jordan Atkins, Mat Rogers, Brad Davis, Michael Henderson, Nathan Friend, Michael Hodgson, Brad Meyers, Mark Minichiello, Josh Graham. Interchange: James Stosic, Will Matthews, Gavin Cooper, Luke Swain, Clint Amos (one to be omitted).

DRAGONS: Brett Morris, Jason Nightingale, Josh Morris, Chase Stanley, Michael Lett, Jamie Soward, Ben Hornby (capt), Justin Poore, Dean Young, Jason Ryles, Beau Scott, Ben Creagh, Stuart Webb. Interchange: Jarrod Saffy, Dan Hunt, Lagi Setu, Rangi Chase, Kirk Reynoldson (one to be omitted).