Clan-Members » th new partners.Two-time Olympi

After watching his side confound their critics at every turn this year, Neil Henry reckons Gold Coast has one last NRL surprise in store.The Titans face premiers North Queensland on Saturday night, needing a win to confirm eighth spot and the clubs first finals appearance in six years.Its a position few would have expected them to be in at the start of the season, when a long-term knee injury to young gun Kane Elgey and the stench from James Roberts departure prompted most to write them off as wooden spoon contenders.A win in Townsville is no easy task - the Cowboys are notoriously difficult at home, having lost just once at 1300SMILES Stadium this year.But Henry is keeping the faith.I think weve got a game that can worry them, he said on Friday.Theres points in our team, we know that.Its all or nothing, were playing for our future.We really need to load up in this game or it could be our last.Jarryd Hayne - whose mid-season arrival on the Gold Coast helped spark the clubs overall resurgence - is expected to play despite a badly corked calf.The Titans have travelled with a squad of 19, including David Mead, who will slot into his old position at fullback if Hayne is ruled out.North Queensland are also sweating on their biggest star, co-captain Johnathan Thurston, who is battling tonsillitis.Thurston didnt complete the Cowboys final training session on Friday and coach Paul Green said he wouldnt decide on him until the morning of the game.Hes still a bit flat. He didnt do the whole session so hes still not 100 per cent, Green said.The Cowboys are strong favourites to secure a win that would stitch up a top four position and a finals double-shot.But Green remains cautious of the often unpredictable Titans.Theyre a good team. They deserve to be where they are, he said.Their halves arent afraid to take you on, their back five in particular are really good. Well be tested all over the park.STATS THAT MATTER* The Titans last win in Townsville came in the opening round of 2012 when they became just the third team in history to hold the Cowboys scoreless at home, winning 18-nil.* North Queensland have won 10 of 11 matches in Townsville this season - six of them by 26 points or more.* Neil Henry has never won against the Cowboys in four attempts - three before he joined them as coach in 2009 and one last year. Custom Predators T-shirts . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. Cheap Predators Jerseys . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. http://www.custompredatorsjersey.com/ . Here are his mid-season NBA awards. MVP: (KEVIN DURANT-Thunder) - Has been sensational this season and more importantly, the most consistent player in the league. Considering that his team has been without star guard Russell Westbrook and with the free agent departure of sharpshooter Kevin Martin, hes had to carry the majority of the load to not only keep his team afloat but more importantly, at an elite level. Custom Predators Jerseys . However, he did make them miss him a little less. Cundiff, who had the unenviable job of replacing Dawson last season, agreed Thursday to a one-year, $1. Custom P.K Subban Jersey . Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. Sand, sun and samba.Even on a royal parade ground in the middle of staid London, the Olympic beach volleyball competition four years ago pulsated to the music of a DJ while dance teams jiggled during the breaks. When the Summer Games sexiest sport opens in Rio de Janeiro, the biggest competition for the party atmosphere inside the venue could come from the surrounding Copacabana Beach.Although the sport was invented in Southern California, its spiritual home could be the stretch of sand in Brazil where a temporary 12,000-seat stadium will welcome the worlds top players. Among the favorites are the hometown teams, including two Brazilian womens tandems that will try to stop American Kerri Walsh-Jennings in her attempt at a fourth straight gold medal.Here are some things to look for from the Olympic beach volleyball venue on Copacabana Beach, where music and passion are always the fashion:HER NAME IS KERRIA three-time defending Olympic champion, Walsh Jennings will turn 38 during the Rio Games. Her path to a fifth Olympics -- she also went to Sydney with the American indoor volleyball team -- has been more of a struggle than years past because of a separated right shoulder that twice interrupted the path to qualification.Walsh Jennings says shes healthy now, and since returning from shoulder surgery she and partner April Ross have steadily moved up the rankings on the international tour. They will arrive in Rio as a No. 3 seed, behind the two Brazilian teams.AND WHILE SHE TRIED TO BE A STARWhen longtime partner Misty May-Treanor retired after the London Games, Walsh Jennings looked across the net to grab Ross off the team they beat in the gold medal match.Ross, 34, brings a little more youth to the partnership, but she still has Olympic experience. She was three-times voted the FIVB tours best server, and she has also earned top honors for her hitting and her offense.But there was also a problem in the new pairing: Both Ross and Walsh Jennings were accustomed to playing on the leftt side.dddddddddddd. Walsh Jennings volunteered to make the switch.AT THE COPABrazil is the most decorated nation in Olympic volleyball history, winning 11 of the 30 total medals since the sport was added to the Summer Games program in 1996. (The United States has nine.)But the Brazilians have only claimed two golds -- one each in mens and womens -- despite dominating the international tours that determine Olympic qualification. (The U.S. has six of a possible 10.)This year, the defending womens world champions Agatha and Barbara were second in the rankings only to the pairing of 2012 bronze medalist Larissa and 2008 fourth-place finisher Talita. On the mens side, Alison and Bruno bring a No. 1 seed and a world championship to their hometown, while fourth-ranked Pedro and Evandro could use the home-town advantage to step onto the medal podium.THEY WERE YOUNG AND THEY HAD EACH OTHERWalsh Jennings and Ross arent the only Americans with new partners.Two-time Olympian Jake Gibb is back, this time with newcomer Casey Patterson. And Phil Dalhausser, who won gold in Beijing and finished ninth in London with Todd Rogers, is paired up with Olympic rookie Nick Lucena.The only tandem of first-timers is the second U.S. womens team, with Brooke Sweat and Lauren Fendrick making their Olympic debut.THEY USED TO HAVE A SHOWDefending mens champions Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann of Germany wont be back.Reckermann retired five months after the London Games due to back and shoulder injuries. Brink teamed up briefly with former training partner Sebastian Fuchs before calling it quits.Also sitting this one out: Five-time Olympian and three-time medalist (one of each) Emanuel, who won silver in London with Alison.It will be the first time there will be an Olympic beach volleyball tournament without him.---Follow Jimmy Golen on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/jgolen . ' ' '