NRL 2021: Gold Coast Titans beat Brisbane Broncos 28-16, David Fifita scores double against former club

David Fifita wasted no time terrorising his former club. But was this match a case of the Titans being good or the Broncos being terrible?

AJ Brimson is swamped by Jordan Riki. Picture: Getty Images

David Fifita rubbed salt into Brisbane’s wounds as Gold Coast’s star recruit terrorised the Broncos to kickstart the Titans’ season.

Fifita bagged a double for the Titans in his grudge match against former club Brisbane while Melbourne recruit Tino Fa’asuamaleaui was menacing to help Gold Coast to a 28-16 win at Cbus Super Stadium on Friday night.

The win was the Titans’ first for 2021 and their third straight victory against the Broncos, a record for the perennial “little brother” in the M1 derby.

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David Fifita scored against the Broncos on Friday night. Picture: Getty Images

After 15 seasons, the pendulum appears to have finally swung Gold Coast’s way in the battle for southeast Queensland supremacy and the Titans’ gun signings had a big part to play in that.

Last year’s wooden spooners, the Broncos were terrible and did little to contain the Titans, who were spearheaded by Fifita and Fa’asuamaleaui.

Fa’asuamaleaui looked like a man possessed, charging for 115m and making a series of bone-crunching tackles, but it was Fifita’s spark that proved the difference.

FIFITA SINKS THE BOOT IN

Fifita, 21, shocked the Broncos when he quit the club last year to take up a $3.5 million deal with the Titans, becoming the rebuilding Gold Coast’s star recruit and one of the NRL’s highest-paid players.

The Queensland Origin forward had a lacklustre debut in Round 1 against the Warriors but came to life in his first showdown with the Broncos.

Fifita scored one of the easier tries of his career when he slipped past a lost Tesi Niu in the first half, but his second four-pointer had the trademarks of what he has become famous for.

The 20m solo effort to brush off Anthony Milford was the type of play the Titans bought Fifita to produce.

Fifita left the field in the 63rd minute following a head-knock but was cleared to return in the final minutes and his challenge now is to have that sort of impact regularly or at least provide enough presence to influence games.

“I felt sorry for (Fifita) last week with the criticism he came under,” said Titans coach Justin Holbrook. “If you saw the week he had (hospitalised with an infected boil) you might not have been so tough.

“He showed what he is capable of tonight so I’m really happy for him. He was keen to play well for the Titans. It was special for him against his old club, he did a good job of that.

“The pressure (on him) could be around for a while but he’s a backrower in our side who just has to do his job. He did that tonight.

“To beat our biggest rivals is great for our club and whole area.”

The Titans notched their third straight win against the Broncos. Picture: Scott Davis/NRL Photos

REMEMBER THE TITANS

It is hard to know exactly what to take out of that Titans performance given the Broncos disintegrated shockingly.

The opening 20 minutes was a scrappy affair as neither team looked likely before the Titans exploded when they managed to maintain possession.

In the space of six minutes the Titans went from a narrow 6-4 buffer to a match-winning half-time lead of 22-4 with tries to Fifita, Erin Clark and Jaimin Jolliffe.

When the Titans held the ball they scored with ease, gaining confidence as each try seemed to release the pressure on a team in which big things are expected in 2021.

The Titans froze in Round 1 and with the monkey off their back they can now gear up for what should be a solid season.

Livewire Corey Thompson was electric with 160m and fullback AJ Brimson showed glimpses of the brilliant form he ended 2020 with.