With the league ladder becoming more compressed by the week Gold Coast skipper Jason Culina says it is vital that his team gets on a winning run heading into the New Year.
United now sits in third spot – just two points clear of fourth placed Newcastle, and two wins ahead of eight placed North Queensland, but have the advantage of playing at home for the next month.
“Things are getting tight and teams are starting to hit their peak, so having four games at home now it is vital for us to start winning, we must take advantage of it,” Culina said.
“Newcastle is a great example of how tight the competition is. They were sitting second last a few weeks ago, they have won three in a row and now they are right in it, so it goes to show just how important it is to string a few wins together.”
After losing the second instalment of the family battle with father Branko’s Jets, Culina is looking forward to staying on the Gold Coast to host Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide before rolling out the red carpet for Newcastle in Round 22.
United has travelled to Newcastle twice this season for no return and while Jason is happy to see his father succeed, there is no way he wants to lose the season series 3-0.
“If we are going to lose a game then I prefer to lose against my father’s team so he can get the points, they needed the extra points then but they are catching us now,” Culina said.
“But we have got Newcastle again in four weeks and I really want to win that one.”
Gold Coast has only won one of its last four fixtures and conceded eight goals in the process, leaving defence as the obvious area where the new club needs to improve.
“It’s little defensive errors that keep holding us back,” Culina said.
“We can’t keep conceding goals like this, we know we are always capable of scoring goals but conceding is our big problem.”
“We are letting in far too many, far too easy.”
