Gold Coast plan to test out Darren Lockyer's engine in his third game in seven days when they visit Brisbane for Friday night's NRL derby at Suncorp Stadium.

But Titans skipper Scott Prince says his side won't fall into the trap of targeting Brisbane's champion playmaker.

Lockyer, 33, has played 160 minutes of rugby league in the past week, guiding the Kangaroos to a hard-fought victory over New Zealand in his 51st Test in Melbourne last Friday night before steering a young Broncos side to a 34-16 upset over Melbourne 48 hours later.

Prince warned it would be easy to lose focus and drift away from a game plan by targeting a player of Lockyer's class.

"It would be nice to get his work rate up because of all the footy he's played to take some polish off his attack," Prince told AAP.

"Teams do that to me and to all the ball players in opposition teams.

"But we won't be going out there just to run at Darren Lockyer."

Prince said Lockyer had stepped his game up in recent weeks after copping some criticism.

"He's a champion player, a champion bloke. Darren Lockyer always rises above all the critics," he said.

"That's the type of bloke he is and you learn to expect that of him.

"He's not getting any younger, like all of us, but the thing about him is he steps up at the right time.

"He's composed, he's a winner. He knows what needs to be done to win football matches and that's hard to find.

"What he's lost in speed and strength ... you just can't find that certain something special he has that wins games."

Lockyer, still adjusting to fatherhood since the recent birth of his first child, Sunny, said his body was holding up despite the demands of so much football.

"Last week was a good week with two wins (Test and Storm)," he said.

"There's been a few weeks where it hasn't been that great for us but body is good and the mind is good."

Lockyer put in the hard yards during the off-season to prepare himself for the demands of playing club and representative football in 2010.

"I got myself as fit as I could in the pre-season and physically things haven't been a problem," he said.

Lockyer said there was a "good feel" in the camp following last weekend's win over Melbourne, who may have crashed emotionally after their salary-cap dramas.

"We know the Titans are sitting top of the table and playing some good footy so it's going to be a big test," he said.

Prince said the Titans had addressed an unexpected drop off in defensive intensity which almost cost them two points against Newcastle last weekend.

"Our attitude in defence last week was missing and that was out of character for us," he said.

"It's been the cornerstone of our wins (Manly, Penrith and Newcastle) but we've addressed it this week and hopefully we'll rectify it on Friday night."

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