Zillman puts his hand up for Prince spot
Gold Coast utility William Zillman said he's ready to fill the void left by injured skipper Scott Prince in the halves, and see the Titans through the remainder of the NRL season.
Zillman has played in a number of positions for coach John Cartwright this year, and said he would happily revert to halfback or five-eighth after Prince suffered a broken left arm which will keep him out for the rest of the year.
Prince, who has broken the same arm previously, was rushed from the field in the dying minutes of the Titans' gutsy 20-16 win over Cronulla at Toyota Stadium on Saturday night.
Zillman looked comfortable in the No.6 for a large chunk of the year, and he'll be one of several options Cartwright considers now he's lost his general.
Current pivot Beau Henry could move to the base of the scrum, while young fullback Jordan Rankin also has a playmaking background.
Prince's misfortune could also be seen as an opportunity to farewell retiring star Preston Campbell in style.
By promoting the everywhere man from the bench to the No.7 jersey, he could bow out of the game in the position he won a Dally M medal in back in 2001 while playing for the Sharks.
However, Zillman also put his hand up for the role and said which ever direction Cartwright decides to take, the Titans will be playing for their skipper.
"He (Prince) is obviously going to be sorely missed and the poor bugger will have to have an operation now, but he'll be back bigger and better next year for sure," Zillman told AAP.
"Definitely, I've enjoyed playing five eighth and if I was put there I'd love to have another go at it."
Zillman said Campbell's retirement announcement at the end of last week helped motivate the Titans against the Sharks.
The 25-year-old insists the struggling Gold Coast still have plenty to play for as the season draws to a close.
The Titans are desperate to shake off the wooden spoon, and to farewell foundation players like Campbell, Anthony Laffranchi and Nathan Friend in style.
"We had Presto announce his retirement during the week and I think that probably gave us a bit of fuel to do it for him and we would like to finish the season on a bit of a high and restore a bit of pride back," he said.
"We certainly don't want the spoon, so we've still got a bit to play for and hopefully we can get ourselves off the bottom of the table."
Gold Coast winger David Mead scored a try-of-the-year contender against the Sharks, when he freakishly plucked a kick up off the half volley one-handed, as the ball appeared destined to bounce into touch.
"I don't know, it happened so fast I can't really remember it, but I'm pretty happy about it," he said.
"It's one of my favourites, it has to be.
"It just stuck.. I don't know how it did but I'm glad it did."
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