Five things learned: Completion is king for Titans in Raiders clash
It’s been back-to-back wins for the Titans and things are starting to look up on the Glitter Strip. Here’s the five things we learned from the Gold Coast’s win over Newcastle.
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It’s been back-to-back wins for the Titans and things are starting to look up on the Glitter Strip. Here’s the five things we learned from the Gold Coast’s win over Newcastle.
1. COMPLETION IS KEY
Look what happens when the Titans hold onto possession.
Gold Coast completed 89 per cent of their sets against the Knights and it showed on the scoreboard with Newcastle crumbling under the relentless pressure.
It’s a far cry from the 64 per cent completion rate the Titans produced against Canberra in Round 1 and with the backline running hot, Gold Coast should keep scoring off the back of their renewed focus on holding the pill.
The hard work is paying off territorially as well with the Titans pushing their average gains to over 42 metres.
2. BOYDY GOES BIG EARLY
Shannon Boyd, welcome back to the NRL.
The man-mountain received a late call-up to the starting side after Kevin Proctor was ruled out during the warm-up and boy, didn’t he deliver.
Boyd stormed into the Newcastle defence with a vigour not yet seen in Titans colours with five hit ups inside the opening five minutes before finishing up with 84 metres from his 11 runs in a total 39 minute stint.
Sure, they’re not stats that set the world on fire but it’s exciting to see the big man engaging defences early, especially in the absence of Gold Coast’s regular carriers in Jarrod Wallace, Ryan James and Proctor.
3. ROBERTS RUNS RIOT
When Ryan James went down in the 12th minute, it was Tyrone Roberts who stepped up and led the side to victory.
It would seem as though captaincy suited him.
The softly-spoken playmaker was at his devastating best and took complete command from five-eighth, direcitng traffic and sending spiralling bomb after spiralling bomb into the Knight’s red zone.
Roberts scored a try in each half to go with 70 metres, a line break, a line break assist and a try assist while freeing up space for Ash Taylor and his outside backs.
With James’ injury set to be fully assessed, the Titans armband could well find itself sticking to Roberts for the forseeable future.
4. PONGA’S CLASS ACT
It comes as no surprise the Knights’ second-half fightback was led by Kalyn Ponga but a second look at the stats proves he’s more than capable of filling the Maroons’ fullback jersey if required.
The young gun racked up 261 metres to go with a try and six tackle breaks in a losing side and will have commanded Kevin Walters’ attention at the selection table.
While Ponga’s footwork is renowned, it was his physicality and handling that made the most impact against the Titans.
He collected 29 post-contact metres despite a healthy weight disadvantage and his aerial prowess would offer a safe pair of hands in the Origin cauldron.
One downside was his failure to convert from the tee, missing both his shots at goal in the second half.
5. PEACHEY MR FIX IT
During the post-match press conference, Titans coach Garth Brennan called for Brad Fittler to include Tyrone Peachey in his Blues squad off the back of a superb performance from the utlity.
Peachey was Gold Coast’s Mr fix-it after James’ injury, swapping between backs and forwards before finishing up on the right edge with 95 metres and a linebreak to his name.
The former Panther was key to the titans’ drought-busting win over Penrith last week and again proved his salt with a titanic 80-minute effort at cbus Super Stadium, so the question now is will Freddy see fit to field a utility in his origin squad.
Originally published as Five things learned: Completion is king for Titans in Raiders clash
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