Jai Arrow injured as Titans suffer 32-18 defeat to rampant Raiders in Canberra

QUEENSLAND Origin hopeful Jai Arrow shed tears on Saturday after the Titans ironman suffered a fresh stomach injury in his side’s dismal 32-18 loss to the Raiders in Canberra.

The Raiders scored a strong 32-18 win over the Titans in Canberra.

QUEENSLAND Origin hopeful Jai Arrow shed tears on Saturday after the Titans ironman suffered a fresh stomach injury in his side’s dismal 32-18 loss to the Raiders in Canberra.

Gold Coast’s defensive demons returned at GIO Stadium as Canberra’s monster pack ran riot in midfield to consign the lowly Titans to their fourth consecutive defeat.

The six-try demolition leaves the Coast languishing in the bottom four and coach Garth Brennan lashed his side’s slew of unforced errors.

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The Raiders scored a strong 32-18 win over the Titans in Canberra.

“Errors are cruelling us,” Brennan fired. “At the end of the day there were some fundamental mistakes that weren’t NRL standard to be honest.”

To rub salt into deep wounds, the Titans had to soldier on for an hour without Arrow _ their best player this year - after the industrious lock left the field injured in the 18th minute.

Just two minutes later, Maroons Origin prop Jarrod Wallace left the field with a stomach virus, depleting the Titans’ interchange rotation.

Arrow is tipped to make his Queensland debut this year but his Origin hopes suffered a setback when he was steamrolled attempting to tackle Canberra hulk Junior Paulo from a kick restart.

Shannon Boyd was outstanding for the Raiders.

The 22-year-old has battled back spasms for the past three weeks and the Paulo collision created a new problem, leaving him in doubt for this Saturday’s clash against the Storm.

The disappointment overcame Arrow, who was so shattered when he hobbled into the sheds he kicked a plastic seat, then broke down minutes before being taken to hospital for scans.

“The doctor is unsure what’s wrong, there could be some rib damage,” Brennan said. “When you have chest and abdominal pain you need to get it checked out.

The Titans were brave in defeat but fell short in Canberra.

“Hopefully it’s not too serious but we need to get it looked at.

“Jarrod’s issue came out of nowhere. When the game started, he had cramps and started vomiting.”

The Arrow and Wallage sagas typified a disastrous day for the Titans, whose midfield defence was awfully soft — evoking images of their 54-8 rout against the Dragons in round three.

The Coast trailed 20-0 after just 24 minutes and not even a brief second-half riposte, which whittled the deficit to 20-12, could spook a Raiders side that simply found another gear.

After showing signs of adapting to coach Garth Brennan’s new defensive pattern, the Titans’ structures without the ball again fell apart.

The Titans were passive around the rucks, giving the Green Machine the latitude to rip them apart with four tries in a 24-minute blitz.

The Titans produced a mini-revival after the break with tries to Ryan James (45th) and Kevin Proctor (49th), but Canberra were always in control.

CANBERRA 32 (S Boyd N Cotric J Croker J Rapana I Soliola J Tapine tries J Croker 4 goals) bt GOLD COAST 18 (R James M King K Proctor tries M Gordon 3 goals) at GIO Stadium. Referee: Alan Shortall, Gavin Reynolds. Crowd: 11,170

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