Titans v Knights: Five things we learned from Gold Coast’s win over Newcastle

THE Titans have found the answer to their five-eighth woes and Nathan Peats fires on return from injury. Here’s the five things we learned from the Titans win over the Knights.

AJ Brimson starred for the Titans in just his second NRL game.

THE Titans have found the answer to their five-eighth woes and Nathan Peats fires on return from injury. Here’s the five things we learned from the Titans win over the Knights.

1) THE Titans have found the answer to their five-eighth woes in teenager Alexander “AJ” Brimson.

Brimson scored the match-winner in his second NRL game and made nine runs for 87m while busting five tackles.

He was defensively strong again with 15 tackles, missing only two.

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AJ Brimson starred for the Titans in just his second NRL game.

2) THE NRL’s penalty crackdown turned farcical when the Titans were reduced to 11 men for minor offences.

Rookie forward Moeaki Fotuaika and Origin prop Jarrod Wallace were in the sin-bin together for one minute in decisions which could have cost the Gold Coast victory.

3) KALYN Ponga has presented a near irresistible case for a State of Origin debut.

Ponga’s 95m solo effort was a contender for try-of-the-year and continued his sensational start to the season.

His form demands selection for the Maroons but where does he fit in?

4) KNIGHTS prop Herman Ese’ese is the one that got away from the Broncos. Ese’ese was pushed back to the bench in what proved to be a masterstroke.

He came on and changed momentum, scored a try and charged for 144m in a performance which nearly won Newcastle the game.

Herman Ese'ese was one of the Knights’ best in the loss.

5) INCUMBENT NSW Origin hooker Nathan Peats has seemingly fallen out of contention for the Blues No. 9 jersey.

Peats returned from a four-week lay-off with a rib injury on Saturday, but it may be too late to push his claims for an Origin jersey following a slow start to the season.

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