we're gooooone. I knew all these injuries would catch up to us sooner or later.
we're gooooone. I knew all these injuries would catch up to us sooner or later.
How do we go from doing so excellent one week to so terrible the next?
Bloody hell belcher is so negative when commentating a Titans game never has anything positive to say about the Titans
Ok well one or two positives that game out of it, Redman was ok, Nene looked good but defence was ordinary. Ioane and Paaai are looking good strong runners, DT still didn't impress me, Morts tried hard and I thought he could've been our best, Meady was good too.
A patched together injured team never had it in them to come back once weight of possession took its toll. if James and Sezer are long term injured we are goneski.........still there were some positive signs and we are getting a better picture of what our top team may look like next year.....one thing for sure a team needs two quality halves and Hoffman is not a five eight.....
Nene hasn't ever played centre in NRL...Neil will coach his defensive errors out. Like he did with Roberts. Brought a lot of positive with ball in hand and I'd keep him there next week.
How screwed are we with injuries? Was always gonna be hard with James off, Sezer eventually going off, Jimmy playing broke as well...
big ask next week V roosters
Tbh I think people expect too much from dt, he had some really strong runs without pushing the offload.
Iaone had a couple of good runs but had poor hands and piss poor defense. Morts also got dominated a lot in defense.
Happy with Redmans first Titans appearance and look forward to seeing nene getting some decent ball when elgey returns. Hoffman isn't a 5/8s asshole.
Late blow-out after brave effort
A two-try effort by Golden Boot winner Shaun Johnson, who dominated the match, led the Warriors to a 36-14 victory over an injury-ravaged Aquis Gold Coast Titans outfit in front of a crowd of 14,132 at Cbus Super Stadium tonight.
The late withdrawal of Titans skipper Nate Myles due a foot injury sustained in Origin II was compounded by the loss of Ryan James (shoulder) in the first-half and Aidan Sezer in the second. James bravely went back onto the field with his left arm limp but lasted less than five minutes.
The Titans led 10-6 lead at half-time break but with the mounting injury toll and the Warriors dominating possession with six goal-line drop-outs, the Titans were unable to contain a barnstorming Warriors outfit whose second-phase play was creating a mountain of space for the enigmatic Johnson who set-up three tries, scored two and kicked six conversions.
After defending an early attacking onslaught by the Warriors, the Titans managed to post first points in the 12th minute when Matthew Robinson got an offload away to new recruit Nene Macdonald who flirted with the touchline before throwing a pass inside to a supporting Josh Hoffman to score his fourth try for the Titans and give the side an early 4-0 lead.
With the momentum in their favour, the Titans capitalised to register points through Lachlan Burr who received a deft short-ball close to the line to score his first try NRL try and give Aidan Sezer an easy conversion to give the Titans a 10-0 lead after 18 minutes.
A repeat set from a penalty close to the line gifted the Warriors prime attacking position and they took full advantage with Nathan Friend slicing his way through the Titans defence to score next to the posts before Shaun Johnson converted to reduce the Titans lead to 10-6 after 22 minutes.
The match turned into an arm-wrestle with both sides going set-for-set until the Warriors forced their fourth goal line dropout of the half and looked to have scored when Charlie Gubb got across the line but were denied by the video referee who ruled he was short of the line.
The Titans had one last opportunity to extend their lead after receiving a scrum-feed 25 metres out from the Warriors line in the final seconds of the half but they were unable to take advantage and were forced to settle for a 10-6 half-time lead.
After a frantic start to the half, the Titans were forced to pay for their ill-discipline with back-to-back penalties gifting the Warriors attacking position and they capitalised with Raymond Faitala-Mariner barging his way across the line before Johnson converted to give the Warriors a 12-10 lead after 53 minutes of play.
The Warriors went back-to-back on the back of their second-phase play giving Johnson a crack at the Titans staggered defensive line with the Golden Boot winner showing lightning pace and his trademark step to score untouched under the posts giving himself an easy kick and the Warriors an 18-10 lead.
The Warriors got across the line again in the 60th minute but were denied by the video referee who rightly ruled Solomone Kata knock the ball on in the process of reeling in a Chad Townsend grubber.
There was no denying the Warriors in the following set with Johnson putting in a deft grubber for a flying Konrad Hurrell to plant down in the in-goal. Johnson added the extras to extend the Warriors lead out to 24-10 with 15 minutes remaining.
It was a double-blow for the Titans with Sezer (ankle/knee) and James (shoulder) both coming from the field with injuries after being without 12 players from the full-time NRL squad going into the match.
But despite the lack of two of their most seasoned players, the Titans continued to compete and hit back by turning defence into attack after forcing a Warriors error before getting the ball away to James Roberts who utilised his speed to get outside the defence and score in the corner. With Sezer off the field, Mortimer took over goal-kicking duties but was unable to add the extras from the sideline leaving the Titans trailing 24-14 with less than ten minutes remaining.
The Warriors finished the game win style with two quick tries through Bodene Thompson who cleaned up another Johnson grubber to score out wide before the skilful halfback sliced through from the following set to grab his second try of the night and give the Warriors the 36-14 victory.
The Titans will look to hit-back next week when they take on the Sydney Roosters at the Central Coast on Sunday.
New Zealand Warriors 36 (S Johnson 2, N Friend, R Faitala-Mariner, K Hurrell, B Thompson tries; S Johnson 6 goals) defeated Gold Coast Titans 14(J Hoffman, L Burr, J Roberts tries; A Sezer goal)
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I have no idea how the refs missed 4 or 5 rubbish play the balls by the Warriors but pick up the one we did wrong. We did look busted during the game, but Nene and Redman look like good pick-ups. Was Ryan James playing on the opposite edge to what he normally does? DT played alright but having him there didn't allow the ball to get to Roberts with as much space. We didn't have anyone running the hard line back against the grain and it told.
Warriors really wore us down and we had no go forward in the second half. Robinson wasn't great on that left edge. Probably Burr's best game for us.
Can't believe we got beaten so badly and we were in that game for most of it but just lost our way in the last 10 minutes.
Geese are the ultimate team players.
They honk to encourage one another!
I hope the Roosters have some more players they don't want and can send them out way. Both Redman and Nene did everything they could to retain a spot in the team, sometimes a little too much. Very impressed with the size of McDonald, good to see a dummy half scoot for the Titans for once. I didn't think Robinson was so bad especially early in the game.
I had no idea at the ground where our bench went and the ground announcers don't tell you jack sh!t. But if the injuries to James and Sezer are long term we may as well close up shop.
Hoffman isn't a 5/8, proved that beyond doubt tonight the minute he had to take over. Thought Mead got caught out of position a couple fo times tonight but I am enjoying him back there.
I still thoroughly enjoyed the game, was disappointed at the dying stages but I'm guessing no one had anything left in the tank. I could only imagine what we would be like with a fully functional uninjured team. Now we need to sweat on the injury news.
One positive is that Johnson is in my SC team. Ouch.
Luke Douglas was good in the post game interview. Added some life to the press conference.