Jai Arrow’s mammoth effort can’t get Titans home against Sharks
An improved Titans forward pack failed to spoil the party for retiring Cronulla captain Paul Gallen after being downed 20-6 at Shark Park on Saturday afternoon.
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The Titans failed to capitalise on an improved forward pack performance after being downed 20-6 at Shark Park on Saturday afternoon.
Gold Coast weren’t able to contain a dominant Sharks pack in what was Paul Gallen’s equal club record 328 games for Cronulla.
Despite winning their past three from four games down in The Shire ahead of the match, the Titans lacked the attacking flair of regular halves Ash Taylor and Tyrone Roberts.
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They should take solace though from an improved forward pack and defensive effort, led by an incredible performance by lock Jai Arrow.
Coach Garth Brennan challenged his forwards heading into the match to “step it up” against a strong Cronulla side and they certainly showed glimpses of improvement.
The front three in Ryan James, Jarrod Wallace and Arrow were able to build momentum early in the first half through strong carries up the middle.
Arrow racked up a whopping 299m from 28 hit-ups in a losing side, and one linebreak.
It was his effective offloads which also helped his side get on the front foot but his rampaging runs failed to be converted into any points.
It was a case of so close, yet so far for the Titans who had three disallowed tries and were held up over the line on several occasions.
Gold Coast started the game with plenty of energy and would have been in the lead after just five minutes but tries to James and Arrow were turned down by the video referee.
It took 130 minutes of football, but the Titans finally got their first four-pointer for 2019 through winger Brenko Lee who took advantage of some scrambling Cronulla defence.
Their possession on the Sharks line should have been converted into more points after having been tackled 59 times inside Cronulla’s 20-metre line.
They seemed to lack the experience and kicking game of Titans’ regular halfback Ash Taylor as new halves pairing AJ Brimson and Ryley Jacks attempted to take control of the game.
Brimson and Jacks will require some more time to settle into their new playmaking roles and will need to work on their kicking game if the Titans are to score more points.
In the end, Gold Coast were completely outshone by the experience and skill of Sharks’ halves Shaun Johnson and Chad Townsend — who celebrated his 100th NRL match.
Sharks winger Sione Katoa’s first half double opened the scoring through clever ballwork from his halves.
A comedy of errors by Tyrone Peachey and Bryce Cartwright then saw Cronulla extend to a 14-0 lead after 26 minutes of the match.
A Briton Nikora try just before halftime took Cronulla into the break 20-0.
The only points to come in the second half came through Lee in the 47th minute.
The Gold Coast now heads to ANZ next week to take on the competition-leading Rabbitohs.
FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Titans coach Garth Brennan challenged his forward pack to step it up against a strong Cronulla side and they certainly did. Jai Arrow (299m) and Ryan James (171m) did their best to build momentum through the middle of the park. Both had opportunities to score but were both disallowed by the video referee.
2. Titans’ new halves pairing in AJ Brimson and Ryley Jacks will need more time to settle into their new roles. Jacks had a nervy start for his new club, making two critical errors and some poor kicking options. Brimson was a livewire at five-eighth and chanced his arm at a few short kicks on the line but wasn’t able to convert into points.
3. Bryce Cartwright is still far from being back to his best. The forward made two critical errors during the match which gave the Sharks good field position and came close to scoring. He looked hesitant in attack and made just 52m from six runs during his 59 minute stint.
4. Cronulla’s halves Shaun Johnson and Chad Townsend are in form, setting up two tries and made two linebreak assists between them. Fullback Matt Moylan also had a hand in one try and teamed up well with his halves pairing.
5. The Sharks right edge is shaping to be one of the most potent in the NRL. Winger Sione Katoa racked up 216m, four linebreaks and bagged a first half double. His inside centre Josh Dugan also looked dangerous, scoring a try and setting up another.
CRONULLA 20 (S Katoa 2 J Dugan B Nikora tries S Johnson 2 goals) bt GOLD COAST 6 (B Lee try M Gordon goal) at Shark Park. Referee: Jon Stone, Tim Roby. Crowd: 15,217
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