Titans v Raiders: Five things we learned

FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED: Gold Coast got the win but had plenty of issues, and new coach Garth Brennan has a selection dilemma.

Raiders prop Junior Paulo charges into the Titans defence.

THE Titans overcame an early 18-0 deficit to produced a miracle comeback against the Raiders.

Here’s what we learned from Gold Coast’s 30-28 win over Canberra.

1. New coach Garth Brennan promised the Titans, if anything, would “have a crack” in 2018. For the first 11 minutes it looked like the rookie coach had horribly misread his team. The Titans defence, structurally and physically, was pathetic as they leaked three preventable tries to trail 18-0. But they fought back, showing remarkable grit to claim a famous victory.

Raiders prop Junior Paulo charges into the Titans defence.

2. Brennan said he did not want to see anything flashy from big-money recruit Bryce Cartwright but the message must not have got through. Cartwright produced a silly flick pass to turn over possession with just his third touch and was poor defensively. He needs to get those errors out of his game.

3. Ryan James must be used in the front row. Brennan opted for Jai Arrow, Leilani Latu and Cartwright to start in the front row on Sunday night and the Titans were murdered through the middle. James was massive with 170m and 35 tackles as he finished the match in the middle and Will Matthews is a capable backrower to replace him

Ryan James, centre, and his Titans teammates celebrate the winning try against the Canberra Raiders.

4. Arrow was sensational in his club debut for the Gold Coast. Despite missing all of the pre-season trials with broken ribs, Arrow amassed 14 runs for 138m and 21 tackles in a tireless performance. The Broncos recruit is going to be a great addition to the Titans.

5. Ricky Stuart’s Raiders lost the unlosable. When Canberra bolted out to an 18-0 lead it looked like anything was possible. But they took their foot of the gas and let slip what would have been a confidence-boosting victory on the road to start the season.