Titans stun Warriors in upset of the season for Des Hasler’s milestone match
Gold Coast Titans’ hopes of avoiding the dreaded wooden spoon may have received a boost, after they produced a stunning upset to beat the Warriors in Des Hasler’s 500th game as a coach.
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Gold Coast coach Des Hasler may have forced the Titans to rethink his future after conjuring one of the upsets of the NRL season in his 500th game to avoid being axed this week.
The Titans responded to last week’s dramatic shower spray from Hasler with a stirring 24-16 win against the Warriors in Auckland on Saturday.
The Titans looked worthy wooden spooners in last week’s dreadful effort against the Wests Tigers, which could have signalled the death knell of Hasler’s tenure on the Gold Coast.
But the stuttering Warriors fell victim to a classic Hasler ambush in his milestone match as the Titans collected a third straight win at Mt Smart Stadium.
While Gold Coast technically remain last on the NRL ladder with just five wins this year, the result may give Hasler time to breathe and put doubt into the minds of Titans management.
Hasler could have been sacked as early as this week if the Titans suffered a heavy loss in New Zealand.
A defeat to the Warriors would have made it mathematically impossible for the Titans to qualify for the finals, allowing Gold Coast to trigger performance clauses in Hasler’s contract and terminate him.
Instead, Gold Coast playmakers Kieran Foran and Jayden Campbell inspired the Titans to their best win of the season against the top four Warriors, who are sliding at the wrong time of the year.
After an insipid, ill-disciplined and error-riddled effort against the Tigers that prompted two post-match sprays from their furious coach, the Titans came out ready to roll in New Zealand.
The Titans matched the Warriors’ physicality early but still found themselves down 10-0 after 11 minutes.
But instead of rolling over and surrendering like they have many times this year, the Titans responded on the back of their halves leading the way.
The instinctive Campbell was brilliant and Foran wound back the clock in his final appearance on home soil, throwing a stunning cut-out pass for winger Phil Sami to score.
The Titans sacked former coach Justin Holbrook after a win in 2023 when the team was sitting ninth on the ladder.
Disposing of Hasler after this effort across the Tasman in the days following his historic 500th game as an NRL coach will be a similarly brutal call.
After this effort, it’s nearly impossible to make that decision in the lead-up to Saturday’s clash with four-time premiers Penrith on the Gold Coast.
Hasler has maintained publicly he has no plans to retire and wants to continue coaching in 2026 – the final year of his contract on the Gold Coast.
That seemed an impossibility given the noise around Hasler’s future and the Tigers game but a week’s a long time in football.
Stranger things have happened.
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