Round 13: Gold Coast Titans vs St George-Illawarra Dragons

[teke]

Was a good game to watch on tele, well done Titans.

[karnage]

Great 1st half. Best 40 mins of the year.

Best performance by the forwards for the year as well. Put Mini and Harro into the pack for Graham and Mathews and with that sort of effort we will be unstoppable.

Great to get the 2 points as well as break the hoodoo.

I just wonder what it would be like to watch a Titans game where he have the result sewn up with 10 or 15 to go. I would have loved to have seen us ice the dragons by maintaining or improving that 28 - 8 scoreline we had with about 30 mins to go.

But that is just nit-picking really.

Bring on the Roosters!!

A win before the bye will see us firmly entrenched in the 4 by the time we face the Warriors at home.

[karnage]

From NRL.com:

In other news, Dragons backrower Neville Costigan was helped off clutching his arm in the 58th minute.

Gold Coast pivot Mat Rogers appeared to suffer a rib injury in the 74th minute and NSW prop Luke Bailey underwent x-rays at halftime for a suspected broken arm but returned to the field by the 63rd.

That does not sound great. Fingers crossed he is OK.

[patskE]

wat u mean it dnt sound great? the rogers one dont but bailey already had the xrays n came back, hardly think he would of played with a broken arm last 20 mins.
man somehow i new we would find a way to stuff up that 1st half lol
wat with all the benefits of the doubts, the video ref's are just trying to cover themselfs how after that hayne no try, i hate it.

[Steve]

The Dragons are a strong side and always finish well, so I was just glad to hold them out.

Brilliant first half, but I think injuries took some of the puff out of the lads.

Meyers double was sensational, especially out on the wing, you can play him anywhere!

[karnage]

wat u mean it dnt sound great? the rogers one dont but bailey already had the xrays n came back, hardly think he would of played with a broken arm last 20 mins.
man somehow i new we would find a way to stuff up that 1st half lol
wat with all the benefits of the doubts, the video ref's are just trying to cover themselfs how after that hayne no try, i hate it.

According to today's Bulletin Bailey won't know the extent of the injury until they complete a bone scan and he played the last 20 in severe pain, turning side on at each impact to lessen the pain in his arm.

I am worried

[karnage]

From the Daily Telegraph website:

But after a second consultation, Gold Coast medical staff found a small fracture - making Bailey's reappearance ever more courageous. He now finds himself in quarantine - with the rest of the NSW players - and in doubt for Origin II on June 24 with his arm injury.

"The arm is pretty stiff," Bailey said last night. "Initially they thought it was clear so I came back on.

"But after having a second look, there is something little there. I will have to go for a bone scan. It's minimal. When I came back on I did a lot of one-sided hit-ups."

NSW's other props, Dragons Michael Weyman and Justin Poore, also suffered injuries last night but should be cleared for Origin II.

Doesn't sound good.

[DIEHARD]

Mead, Sailor -- a tale of two wingers
Daniel Meers

WHEN David Mead was growing up in a small Papua New Guinean village, the closest he came to playing rugby league was kicking a cola bottle between his mates.

As Mead once said, running around paddocks and climbing trees was the norm for a kid growing up in Papua New Guinea.

With a few minutes left in the first half of last night's clash against the Dragons, 21-year-old Mead ran on to one of the world's most modern stadiums and began what shapes to be a long, successful rugby league career.

If Mead had any doubts about how tough playing first grade would be, he needed only to look at his opposite number -- Wendell Sailor.

It was the perfect picture of the old and the new.

Mead, a baby-faced debutant, and Sailor, a 30-something dual international and one of the most well known figures in the game.

The dual international was not going to give Mead a free ride, far from it.

Sailor was a man on a mission last night, one of the best on the park. There's a Queensland backline spot available for Origin 2 and he wants it.

Sailor looked one of the few dangerous commodities in an at-times tame Dragons outfit during last night's early exchanges.

He somehow ran from one side of the field to the other and through a handful of Titans players to get a pinpoint Mat Rogers grubber out of the in-goal.

Early in the second half, with the Dragons' first attacking raid going nowhere, Sailor injected himself back into the game and scored a try on the opposite sides of the field.

If ever there was a statement to play Origin, Sailor had made it.

Young Mead was given the job to stop it.

One of Mead's first touches was very much a 'welcome to the big league fella'.

His good mate Esi Tonga threw a hospital pass to Mead on the sideline who, through no fault of his own, was bustled into touch.

He got up, kept his head held high and got on with the job.

Perhaps it had something to do with the fact he had already represented his country before debuting for the Titans.

Mead was strong in the second half.

He was in position, ran with force and made some smart decisions in defence.

With 13 minutes to go a moment came that Mead will kick himself about, but only only because he is a hard marker.

Mead brought a kick out of the in-goal line before he was hammered back into the in-goal by three defenders, and the Dragons got another set.

There wasn't much Mead could do and Sailor gave him a pat on the back.

Another example of the old and the new.

Mead held his own last night.

He began his career in solid fashion.

On the other side of park, Sailor may have begun a new chapter in his representative career.

Source: http://www.goldcoast.com.au

[DIEHARD]

Titans hang on in Skilled Park thriller
Daniel Meers

ELATED Gold Coast Titans coach John Cartwright last night declared the Titans' history-making 28-24 win over the St George-Illawarra Dragons as their best of the season.

After three years of trying the Gold Coast finally defeated the Dragons and in doing so stamped themselves as genuine premiership contenders.

No team in the competition had managed to dominate the Dragons in 2009, last night the Titans did.

The first half was simply sublime.

The Titans attacked the Dragons through the middle gaining metres at will while their attack finally clicked.

It looked like the Dragons would run over the top of the Titans in the second half as Luke Bailey, Mat Rogers and Brad Meyers battled injury, and Cartwright ran out of troops.

But they held strong to become equal competition leaders.

"Our football was the best it's been all year at various stages," he said.

"Sometimes its easy to be disappointed, we were leading by so much then to let them back in the game, but I think there were some reasons for that.

"They played very well -- they're very machine like, they don't make any errors and they do the little things well. We ran into a few injury problems in the second half, we didn't have many on the bench."

All season Cartwright had played down a number of the Titans wins but last night he looked happy with what his side produced.

He gave an insight into how the club could be clicking mid season rather than faltering like previous years.

"I got a good feeling during the week, it doesn't always prove right, but we had a long two weeks to prepare for this game, the sessions leading up to this game, the last two, were the best we've done all year energy wise and attitude wise," he said.

From the kick-off the Titans were simply too good.

From one side of the field to the other, from forwards to backs the Titans were dangerous.

Scott Prince, Rogers and Preston Campbell conducted the show.

Meyers, Bailey and Anthony Laffranchi led things up front.

The first try came in the 15th minute when Chris Walker regathered a Prince kick to score under the posts.

The Titans were at it again three minutes later when Meyers scored the first of a double.

It was young gun Esi Tonga's turn next on the back of an clever backline play.

Preston Campbell drew in Wendell Sailor before he passed to Tonga who went over to score.

The Titans put the final hammer in the Dragons coffin in the 39th minute when Prince went crossfield before Laffranchi and Meyers turned centre and winger to send Meyers over in the corner.

The Dragons scored three tries in the first 20 minutes of the second half and looked as though they would run over the Titans, but the Gold Coast held strong and recorded their first win over the Big Red V.

Source: http://www.goldcoast.com.au

[DIEHARD]

How good was it to finally beat the Dragons? Another bogey bites the dust. We have now beaten every team in the NRL! A very sweet victory, especially at home to maintain our perfect record at the Fortress.

They are the form team of the NRL, not doubt and we got over them. We can take a lot of credit away from it.

The Dragons are notorious for coming for the entire 80 and surfacing in the 2nd half. It was very tense seeing them rise in the second half and willing the Titans to hold on.

I was delighted more than ever to see the Gold Coast put on the attack in the first half, I was thinking anything was possible with another 40mins to come.

Meyers was amazing, he probably would have gotten a hatrick if he didn't get that headknock. Well done Big Red! Mead had a solid debut and against tough opposition in Sailor. He has a big future. Friend was great for us, loved his hit on Soward and seeing him go down like a sack of potatoes. Walker as well was great and O'Dwyer. Zillman wasn't too flash and it seems he has been down on form lately after a stellar begining to the season. But he is all class and will come around.

We missed Ash, no doubt he is alot more important to our game than Boyd was to the Saints. Ash is our quiet achiever but he is tireless.

Also, there is a replay of this game on at 4pm on Fox Sports 2.

[Coaster]

Great display from our boys, if Myers and Bull are fit, we have a chance at the ring this year.

Myers is by far my favorite player at the moment, the guy is such a humble and almost shy fella, yet is one of the most intimidating and forceful runners of the football.

Him and Bailey left the field, we lost all momentum.

No one will like me saying this, but i left the ground cheesed off at our second half, we had them by the neck, and refused to strangle them to death. I except injuries and good play from Dragons was the reason, but we really needed to put them to sleep, and the game nearly slipped from us.

[DIEHARD]

Yea, we need to develop that killer instinct, which we lack. We need to learn to put teams to the sword. Losing Bull and Red wouldn't have helped, they were the main reason we dominated the Dragons in the 1st and denied them so many yards. As Pete says Boof was awesome for us and definitely his best in 09. Gee we did a good job at that and that is the way you slay the Dragons.

NRLSTATS report -> http://live.nrlstats.com/matches/nrl/match2189.html

Why is the crowd listed in many places as 24,106 when at the game it was announced as 20,odd?

[DIEHARD]

The View - Round 13

The Last Laugh:

Gold Coast Titans continue to defy the doomsayers who say they are headed for a dramatic fall. On the contrary, Monday night’s impressive victory has pushed them into a share of the lead with the Bulldogs and Dragons – and they must now be taken seriously as genuine premiership hopefuls. The main source of their success has been their incredible home form – Newcastle, Bulldogs, Manly, Canberra, Souths and St George have all tasted defeat on their visits to Skilled Stadium. But their away form hasn’t been too shabby either – as Melbourne Storm and North Queensland have found out to their detriment. They are coming out of a very tough patch of games and must be looking forward to their upcoming schedule which includes matches against the Roosters, Warriors, Raiders and Eels. In other words, don’t expect a fade out this season.

Source: http://www.foxsports.com.au

[DIEHARD]

Replay now starting on Fox Sports 2.... Should be enjoyable and insightful.

[Dragons]

Well done Titans, you smashed us in that first forty. When Bull left the field we scored a couple of tries. Thoughly deserve win. Did any one at the ground feel the temperature drop real quick?