NRL round eight: Gold Coast Titans defeat New Zealand Warriors 27-24, first win of 2024 for Des Hasler’s side

Des Hasler had a reason to smile at last as the Gold Coast Titans picked up their first win of 2024 with a courageous defensive showing against the New Zealand Warriors in Auckland.

Gold Coast Titans veteran Kieran Foran summed it up best after Thursday’s nail-biting victory against the Warriors.

“We just had to find a way to win, simple as that,” Foran said.

“We couldn’t afford to drop that one and you could feel the desperation out there by the boys.”

The Titans travelled to Auckland off the back of two heartbreaking losses to the Raiders and Sea Eagles knowing they probably should’ve been shooting for three wins in a row.

But they were just desperate to get their first win of the season against a Warriors outfit regarded as a top-four side.

After conceding two early tries it looked like it was going to be a long afternoon for the Titans but they drew on their recent fighting form to get back into the game and out-grind the Warriors.

They scored five unanswered tries to set up the 27-24 win in a game that produced a couple of big momentum changes.

The Titans had the momentum then the Warriors came storming home with two tries and looked like they’d finish over the top of the Titans but Foran said his men dug deep in defence to deny the home side.

David Fifita of the Titans celebrates his try for the Titans. Picture: Phil Walter/Getty Images

AJ Brimson on the burst. Picture: Phil Walter/Getty Images

Addin Fonua-Blake of the Warriors scores a try for the Warriors. Picture: Phil Walter/Getty Images

“You could feel the momentum shift,” Foran said.

“They scored a couple of tries and the crowd got behind them but I was extremely proud of the defensive effort.

“I don’t know how many sets they had on our tryline but we just kept turning up and we’ve been building towards that.

“We know we’ve been unlucky the past two weeks with games we should’ve won but didn’t.”

For Des Hasler, it was his first win in charge of the Gold Coast but his demeanour didn’t change much post-match.

“Over the past month we were building towards something so, at the end of the day, we probably deserved to get the points but we made a really hard fist of it though,” he said.

“We gave them a 12-point start but we knew if we hung in there, and we did our work on the Warriors, and we stuck to the plan it would turn and it did that.”

Hasler, a two-time premiership winner at Manly, gave his men all the credit after the Warriors had the ball for seven of the final 10 sets in the match.

“Towards the end we showed a tonne of guts, which you would expect, and something special always happens on days like these and the Titans players showed a tonne of fighting spirit,” Hasler said.

“It’s good to win those ugly ones.”

Where do the Warriors stand after a performance like that? Picture: Phil Walter/Getty Images

HISTORY REPEATS

It was deja vu all over again for the Warriors.

Just like in round one against the Sharks, the Warriors leapt out of an early lead with two quick tries in the opening 10 minutes.

They looked like premiership contenders.

But for the next 50 minutes they looked like a team that wouldn’t play finals football.

To put it simply, the Warriors just didn’t play well and coach Andrew Webster wasn’t hiding from that fact.

“They’re not playing the way they want to play right now, that’s pretty obvious,” Webster said.

Webster said individual moments were “killing” the Warriors.

He didn’t place any blame on a crucial no-try refereeing call late in the game, but rather said the opposition just played better.

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad looks to escape for the Warriors. Picture: Phil Walter/Getty Images

It was evident with 27 minutes left when Dallin Watene-Zalezniak was bringing the ball out of trouble and had three Titans on him, but still tried to deliver a high-risk offload that wasn’t needed and went to ground.

“They were playing the ball really quick and then having good shots at us off the back of fast play the balls and it’s hard to compete like that,” Webster said.

“I thought they played really well and I’m not taking anything away from them. They were the better team. They scrambled hard and wanted to win.”

It’s now back-to-back losses for the Warriors and before last week’s loss it could’ve been argued that they should’ve been undefeated this season.

Something’s missing.

Perhaps they have the same problem as the Roosters.

Their centre Roger Tuivasa-Shack, like Joey Manu, needs to get more ball but can’t get it from where he plays on the field.

WELL DONE REF

Referees are a bit like wicketkeepers – if you don’t notice them, they’re doing well.

Wyatt Raymond, a physiotherapist by day, only gave eight penalties and two set restarts to let the game flow and both teams responded with 90 per cent completion rates.

If it was a 50-50 call he left his whistle in his pocket.

They played, and he let them play.