Konrad Hurrell’s late try seals thrilling 30-28 win for Titans against Raiders
INSPIRATIONAL captain Ryan James and boom halfback Ash Taylor led the way as the Titans scrapped their way to an equal club record comeback.
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WELCOME to the NRL, Garth Brennan.
Brennan’s NRL dream turned into a rollercoaster reality as the Gold Coast Titans produced a miracle comeback to beat Canberra 30-28.
Overseeing his first match as an NRL coach, Brennan must have felt helpless as the lethargic Titans let Canberra bolt out to an 18-0 lead inside 12 minutes.
What happened next in front of 10, 238 at Cbus Super Stadiun was nothing short of remarkable.
Led superbly by inspirational captain Ryan James and boom halfback Ash Taylor, the Titans scrapped their way to an equal club record comeback, giving Brennan the perfect start to his NRL coaching career.
ANALYSIS: Titans v Raiders — five things we learned
Brennan promised the Titans of 2018 would “have a crack” and despite a slow start they delivered.
“I knew the boys had some character. I’ve seen how they’ve trained,” Brennan said.
“I said from day one they will never give up and they showed that when things were going against them.
“They dug in there and responded which I’m really proud of.
“The defence was nowhere near up to scratch. Conceding 28 points is not good enough. We need to be better than that.
“It’s going to take some time. There are new combinations in the middle.
“We get a bit of belief out of that. No matter what the scoreboard, if we keep working hard things can change and turn.”
James played 80 minutes in the forwards, registering 19 runs for 170m and 35 tackles in one of his finest performances.
After a poor start to the game Taylor stepped up and showed he deserves the $1 million-a-season salary he will pocket from next year.
Former Titans coach Neil Henry was watching on from the Fox Sports commentary box and in the opening stages of the game it looked like little had changed from the disastrous season of 2017.
The Titans looked lost and lacked defensive commitment against a rampaging Raiders outfit.
Siliva Havili strolled over after just three minutes, Canberra fullback Jack Wighton exposed Taylor’s weak defence shortly after and the Raiders had an 18-0 lead when Elliott Whitehead scored between the posts.
The Titans scored through Kevin Proctor once they finally found some possession but another soft try, this time to Raiders beast Junior Paulo, gave Canberra a 24-6 buffer.
Taylor and Elgey combined to keep the Titans in the game at half-time and when rookie winger Phillip Sami scored early in the second half the Gold Coast was back in the hunt at 24-18.
Dale Copley’s solo effort brought the Titans within two points and Michael Gordon levelled scores at 24-all with a penalty goal in the 62nd minute.
The Raiders edged ahead again through Joey Leilua but Taylor was not done, producing his fourth try assist when Konrad Hurrell pounced on a kick to score between the posts in the 79th minute.
The 18-point fightback was equal with one of the club’s greatest ever victories against the Bulldogs in Round 26, 2014.
Brennan’s first season in charge looks like it could be a rollercoaster of results but there were signs on the Gold Coast to show the Titans are riding in the right direction.
GOLD COAST 30 (D Copley K Elgey K Hurrell K Proctor P Sami tries M Gordon 5 goals) bt CANBERRA 28 (S Havili J Leilua J Paulo E Whitehead J Wighton tries J Croker 3 A Sezer goals) at Cbus Super Stadium. Referee: Henry Perenara, David Munro. Crowd: 10,238
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