Gold Coast have been given a favourable draw for 2025, but replicating the form they showed last season against Brisbane on a regular basis will determine whether they play finals football.
The Titans play last season's top four teams only once each in 2025 and have 14 games against bottom-eight teams.
The Broncos battle Sydney Roosters and Melbourne twice and have six games all up against the top four from 2024, but in a real boost they have been given seven of their opening 11 matches at Suncorp Stadium under new coach Michael Maguire.
The Titans play the Broncos away in round 14 on a Saturday night, then host them on a Sunday evening in round 19.
An understrength Gold Coast beat Brisbane 36-34 at Suncorp Stadium in 2024 before blowing their arch-rivals away 46-18 at Robina. The second half of their home win featured some of the best football the Titans have ever showcased.
The following week they were flogged 44-0 by Cronulla and closed the year with five consecutive losses to finish 14th.
There are lessons from the Titans versus Broncos clashes for both sides, none more so than for Gold Coast, who must find a way to fire against the rest of the competition.
Titans CEO Steve Mitchell was presented with the XXXX Derby Trophy on Thursday for the wins over the Broncos, but warned the club's lowly finish on the ladder in 2024, despite beating Brisbane, revealed inconsistency.
He was confident that would change in the second season under coach Des Hasler.
"If I was to speak on consistency, it goes back to mindset, leadership and what the expectations are," Mitchell said.
"We played a tough and gritty style of footy in the middle of the season and probably lost games we should have won.
"It is interesting at the moment. There is a momentum out in the community, even though we finished 14th, that the way we played (in 2024) was materially different to the way we played in years gone by."
Mitchell conceded the Titans must "improve the outcome" of games in a result sense, but added that a second full season under Hasler, combined with a more experienced playing group, would make a difference.
"We have a player group that is maturing and has genuine leadership through it and an apex-level coach (in Hasler) who knows how to win. The player group knows the expectations and understands what his frameworks are," he said.
Overall, Mitchell said he was "really happy" with the draw
The Titans welcome back captain Tino Fa'asuamaleaui from an ACL rupture, and he will line up in round two against Canterbury after the first-round bye.
"That's fantastic. There is no doubt we missed him this year," Mitchell said.
As for a pass mark for 2025, Mitchell said it would be to "win more games than we lose".
That hasn't happened since 2010, when the Titans won 15 and lost nine on the way to the preliminary final.
The Broncos, who finished 12th in 2024, must face the reality that any time they lose twice in a season to the Gold Coast is an alarm bell.
The only other time that happened was in 2020 when the Broncos "won" the wooden spoon.
