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Queensland prop Jai Arrow injured in Gold Coast’s 24-20 loss to New Zealand

Maroons prop Jai Arrow is in doubt for State of Origin II after going down with an ankle injury in Gold Coast’s 24-20 loss to New Zealand.

Jai Arrow of the Titans is taken from the field injured during the Round 14 NRL match between the Gold Coast Titans and the New Zealand Warriors at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast, Friday, June 14, 2019. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY
Jai Arrow of the Titans is taken from the field injured during the Round 14 NRL match between the Gold Coast Titans and the New Zealand Warriors at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast, Friday, June 14, 2019. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

Queensland ironman Jai Arrow is in grave danger of missing Origin II after suffering an ankle injury in the Titans’ agonising 24-20 loss to the Warriors at Cbus Super Stadium on Friday night.

The pain of a defeat that leaves the Titans’ finals hopes on life support was compounded by injuries to star duo Tyrone Peachey (pec) and Arrow (ankle) in a nightmare eight-minute period at Robina.

Already missing star half Ash Taylor due to mental-health issues, the Titans were rocked by Peachey’s 20th-minute setback before Arrow’s leg was caught under the weight of Warriors defenders.

Arrow went down midway through the first half. AAP Image/Dave Hunt.
Arrow went down midway through the first half. AAP Image/Dave Hunt.

Maroons coach Kevin Walters was at Robina for Fox Sports and he would have choked on his microphone when his star forward Arrow hobbled off in the 28th minute.

The tackling machine did not return and watched the second half on crutches with his left foot in a moon boot.

Arrow, Queensland’s starting prop in Game One, will have scans on Saturday. But with the Maroons team named Sunday and Game Two to be played in eight days, Arrow will need an MRI miracle to be cleared for the historic return bout in Perth.

The potential loss of Arrow would be a crushing blow for a Queensland side that leveraged his workrate and hunger to draw first blood against the Blues 18-14 in the series opener at Suncorp Stadium.

The Titans just came up short. AAP Image/Dave Hunt.
The Titans just came up short. AAP Image/Dave Hunt.

But there could be a silver lining for the Titans, with Gold Coast prop Jarrod Wallace to surge back into the selection frame if his good mate Arrow is officially scratched for Origin II.

Axed for Origin I, Wallace did everything possible to win a Maroons recall, charging for 164 metres from 21 runs to send an emphatic message to Maroons selectors.

The Arrow blow aside, this was a gut-wrenching loss for the Titans - one that almost certainly crushed their top-eight ambitions.

Gold Coast’s finals hopes are now all but dead. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images.
Gold Coast’s finals hopes are now all but dead. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images.

With scores locked 12-all at halftime, the Coast edged clear 14-12 with a 66th-minute penalty and simply had to hang on to spoil Warriors forward Adam Blair’s 300th-game celebrations.

But the Warriors surged home, with tries to Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (68th) and Ken Maumalo (75th) leaving the Titans floundering at 24-14.

Classy fullback AJ Brimson gave the home side hope when he sliced through four minutes from time, but the Warriors held their nerve to temporarily move to 10th position.

The Titans are stuck in 10th spot. AAP Image/Dave Hunt.
The Titans are stuck in 10th spot. AAP Image/Dave Hunt.

The Titans’ playoff aspirations are in tatters. They remain second-last and will need to win nine of their last 10 matches to have any hope of playing sudden-death football.

Titans coach Garth Brennan challenged his troops to back-up last week’s spirited defeat of the Broncos but the Coast clocked off in the opening exchanges to trail 10-0 after 12 minutes.

That left the Titans playing catch-up all night. Until they find week-to-week consistency in mindset, the Coast will be NRL also-rans with or without Arrow.

NZ WARRIORS 24 (K Maumalo 2 K Lawton R Tuivasa-Sheck tries I Luke 3 K Nikorima goals) bt GOLD COAST 20 (A Brimson R Jacks B Kelly tries T Roberts 4 goals) at Cbus Super Stadium. Referee: Grant Atkins, Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski. Crowd: 9,973

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Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/teams/titans/queensland-prop-jai-arrow-injured-in-gold-coasts-2420-loss-to-new-zealand/news-story/a758000901bcc39afddc5b2278040545