Gold Coast rookie Kayne Lawton is set for a baptism of fire in the Titans' NRL local derby against Brisbane on Friday night.

Lawton, 20, is likely to be pitch-forked into his top-grade debut with influential Titans hooker Nathan Friend struggling to be fit for the clash at what is sure to be a packed Skilled Park.

Titans coach John Cartwright on Monday confirmed the under-20s rake was a likely replacement with Friend badly injuring his ankle in last week's 23-16 loss to Bulldogs.

"He's a big chance, he's been playing big minutes in the under-20s and he's doing real well," Cartwright said after putting his charges through a gruelling training session.

"He's a local kid, he's probably a half or five-eighth turned into a hooker over the last couple of years.

"These kids get big write-ups but it's going to be a big challenge for him. But he's got all the attributes.

"He works very hard on his game and he's tough enough."

Cartwright has had good success plucking young players from the Toyota Cup in the past two years and expects the trend to continue.

"That's what they're there for, they train with us and prepare like a first grade team," he said.

"He's playing 80 minutes every week, he's doing a good job and he probably deserves a chance."

Co-captain Luke Bailey was wary of meeting the out-of-form Broncos, who are desperate to bounce back from their 44-12 thumping against Souths on Friday night.

"They're hot and cold and like us they're coming off a loss so it's going to a dangerous game for us," he said.

"We need to climb back on and get some confidence back up and improve our defence.

"They're desperate to stake their claim for a top eight position so they're going to be fired up and they could produce a great game on any given day.

"We just have to worry about our own backyard and tidying up our defensive lapses that caused the loss on Friday night."

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