‘All positions vacant’: Titans on notice after Melbourne Storm smashing

It may have been a new-look Gold Coast playing group and coaching staff but it was the same old result for the Titans after being blown away by a Storm side missing five Origin stars.

Interim Titans coach Craig Hodges has put his players on notice, declaring “all positions are vacant” following their 38-18 loss to Melbourne at Cbus Super Stadium in front of 11,143 fans.

It may have been a new-look Gold Coast playing group and coaching staff but it was the same old result for the Titans after being blown away by the Storm, who were missing five of their Origin stars.

The sacking of coach Garth Brennan last week was described as a change that needed to be made but following Sunday’s result, more needs to be done to turn the fortunes of the club around.

It was the Gold Coast’s first outing since the sacking of Brennan and stand-in coach Hodges said more changes would be made.

“She’s all positions vacant at the moment,” Hodges said.

The Titans were blown away by the Storm on the Gold Coast. Picture: AAP

“Without getting too deep into it, we know where we want to go and what we want to achieve.

“We just need to find the 17 most committed to that. At the moment, all positions are vacant.

“My first impressions are that we took a fair bit away (to improve on).

“There were some things there that we will need to work on, that’s non-negotiable, and there were patches as you’d expect this far into the season where we just fell back on old habits.

“I know the scoreboard doesn’t reflect it, but I saw enough in there that I know we’re stepping in the right direction.

“We’ve still got a hell of a lot of work to do obviously.

“That includes the system that we play with and the people that we play with.”

Sandor Earl celebrates after scoring a try for the Storm. Picture: AAP

Changes will certainly need to be made ahead of this weekend’s M1 derby on Saturday night when the Titans host the Broncos.

The fans were almost treated to a Gold Coast upset but the control and experience of the Melbourne Storm consigned the home side to its 13th loss of the season.

It was first versus last on the premiership table and the difference between the sides was clearly evident in the seven-tries-to-three victory.

The Gold Coast started the match as if they were on top and the Storm were on the bottom – after Melbourne produced uncharacteristic ­errors and the Titans were able to convert it into points.

Titans winger Brenko Lee was recalled to the squad after being dropped in Round 2 and it took him just three minutes to post first points. Jarrod Wallace’s try in the seventh minute epitomised the Gold Coast’s new-found determined attitude as he steamrolled through four defenders to score his first try since Round 5.

Ryan Papenhuyzen makes a break for the Storm. Picture: AAP

The Titans would have felt the steely gaze of performance and culture chief Mal Meninga watching on intently from the stands, after he put the playing group on notice leading into the match.

But determination wasn’t enough to contain the top-of-the-table Storm as they were able to swing the tide back in their favour to cross on seven separate occasions.

With 24 points having been scored in the opening 12 minutes, it shaped up to be a points bonanza at Cbus Super Stadium.

But the Storm put on a clinical second-stanza performance as the Titans crumbled to their equal-worst start from 17 games since their 2011 season.

TITANS V STORM: FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED

1. The sacking of Garth Brennan was described as the “change the Titans needed” but Sunday’s result was proof there needs to be more done to fix the struggling club. The Gold Coast are seriously lacking a game manager to drag the team out of trouble.

2. Melbourne fielded a second-string side, with five Origin stars absent, and they were still able to easily put the Titans to bed. The home side finished the match with 27 missed tackles against a side that will capitalise on poor defence.

3. The Titans showed glimpses of their potential however, and the trick for the new coach will be to harness that potential into an 80-minute performance. The home side was able to get out to a 12-nil lead within seven minutes but took the foot off the pedal to allow the Storm to take over the game.

Cameron Smith and the Storm made light work of the Gold Coast. Picture: AAP

4. Jarrod Wallace had one of his best games of the year. His grit and determination has been missing this season and it was on show when he rolled over four Storm players to score in the seventh minute of the game.

5. Dalby-born Brodie Croft is finding some great form for the Storm. He finished Sunday’s match with three try assists, a linebreak, 36 running metres and 14 tackles. The youngster had huge Cooper Cronk-sized shoes to fill at Melbourne, and he’s slowly making the No.7 jersey his own.

MELBOURNE 38 (S Vunivalu 2 S Earl J Olam R Papenhuyzen C Smith J Stimson tries C Smith 5 goals) bt GOLD COAST 18 (B Cartwright B Lee J Wallace tries T Roberts 3 goals) at Cbus Super Stadium. Referee: David Munro, Peter Gough. Crowd: 11,143