A day before the Gold Coast suffered yet another second-half capitulation, Toby Sexton was making an emphatic comeback from a fractured wrist to push his case for an NRL recall.

The 22-year-old was playing his first game since his Easter Sunday heroics inspired a come-from-behind Titans triumph over the St. George-Illawarra Dragons; spearheading Tweed to a 54-14 win over Ipswich.

Showing few signs of rust despite being kept out for the past month, Sexton finished with a try, a linebreak, two linebreak assists and a try assist.

After a 2022 NRL campaign in which he lost his place in first-grade in the midst of a 10-game losing streak, Sexton has played with a new lease on life this season.

That was epitomised by his sole first-grade outing against the Red V, in which he crossed to score at the death as well as laying on a try and two linebreaks.

Seagulls coach Dave Penna said while Sexton was still building back into the speed of the game, he would be quick to hit top gear and be braced for a Titans call up if needed.

After the young halfback copped the brunt of criticism during last year’s demoralising NRL campaign, the Tweed mentor said like any emerging playmaker he was steadily learning lessons in patience and sensing when the time to strike was nearing.

“What people have to remember with young halves is there’s a lot of pressure put on them and each year they play the game they learn to manage the game better,” Penna said.

“We’ve focused on him and Tom (Weaver) and Will (Brimson) being able to focus and manage their game and be patient with what they’re doing. As they get older they get better.

“He was good to have back, he’s a quality player and he’s a bit rusty on a few things but he needed to blow out the cobwebs.

“It was more him playing some footy, he’s been out for five or six weeks so it’s blowing the cobwebs out to get out there, playing his game and getting back into the rhythm and speed of it all.

“Toby’s always been fantastic when he comes back to us, he always puts his best foot forward. I guess I’ve given him a license to play what he sees and be patient with what he’s doing and to run the footy.

“He earned his spot in the (Titans) team back then and I can’t comment on what the Titans will do, it’s not my position to do that, but I know when they need to use Toby he’ll be ready again.”

Sexton’s last outing in Gold Coast colours was a display which came with his back against the wall, and on three occasions since his injury the Titans have watched halftime leads fall away — Sunday’s 20-18 defeat to the Bulldogs the latest example.

Despite the Gold Coast’s pack of Tino Fa’asuamealui, Moeaki Fotuaika, David Fifita and Isaac Liu dominating the Bulldogs middle men in the opening 40 minutes, the Gold Coast’s backline failed to take full advantage of the ascendancy.

By halftime the Canterbury-Bankstown starting forwards had combined to run for 195m — just 48 more than what Fotuaika managed on his own — and 66 per cent of the game had been played in attacking Titans territory.

A healthy 14-0 lead — the two tries coming from individual pieces of Fifita and Fa’asuamaleaui brilliance — ultimately was not enough to starve off a late fightback.

Titans coach Justin Holbrook however said the work had been done in the first-half to ensure they came away with the win, only for lacklustre individual moments — headlined by seven errors — to bring them unstuck coming out of the break.

“We again found a way to not win a game. You don’t lead 14-0 and not know what you’re doing, and we’re just finding ways to come unstuck,” Holbrook said.

“If you don’t watch the game you go ‘oh two points, must have been close’. If you’re feeling like I was seeing it we were in complete control of the game and we didn’t win it.

“We were individually getting things wrong in the second half and just going away from what’s working and it’s effecting us. That’s the part we’ve got to fix.

“We just had too many one off guys getting one thing wrong in the second half when if we just stick to clear mind on what’s needed we’ll be winning those games in the future.”

TITAN’S BROTHER MAKES AN IMPRESSION: RUGBY LEAGUE GOLD COAST

Few men in rugby league may possess the speed of Alofiana Khan-Pereira, but his younger brother may be one who is hot on his heels.

Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira featured in his third Rugby League Gold Coast clash for the season, his first on the wing for the Burleigh Bears.

The club’s colts member did not line up the Pizzey Park under-21s’ 30-24 win over Clydesdales, however he did score in the A-grade side’s 32-12 win over Tugun.

Bears halfback Shallin Fuller also helped himself to a double, with Josiah Afu, Thomas Eveleigh, Michael Walit and Heath Gibbs all crossing once each.

Meanwhile a Campbell Pirihi hat-trick has inspired Helensvale to their first win of the season, downing Runaway Bay 40-26.

A brace to Brogan Melrose proved the perfect foil for Pirihi’s brilliance, which proved crucial after prop Immanuel Kalekale was sent off in the first-half.

In Saturday night’s clash, Zane Harris’s move into Southport’s outside backs paid huge dividends on Saturday night, with the former Vikings halfback crossing for a double in a 42-10 win against Currumbin.

Harris pulled the strings for the Tigers last season with the No.7 on his back en route to a premiership triumph, however the arrival of former Burleigh Bears Queensland Cup maestro Dallas Wells triggered a positional shift.

Thus far it has proven a masterstroke, having crossed for six tries this season as the defending champions sit atop of the Rugby League Gold Coast ladder.

Harris was joined in the yellow and black procession by prop Piki Te Ora Rogers, who also helped himself to a brace as the club ran rampant at Owen Park.

BATTLERS STAND TALL: QUEENSLAND CUP

It has been something of a disruptive campaign for Ioane Seiuli, having played four positions in just nine games for Tweed this season.

However in his third game shifting from the outside backs into the backrow, the 23-year-old made a statement.

Seiuli crossed for four tries in his side’s 54-14 victory, as the Piggabeen men put on an attacking clinic even without five-eighth Tom Weaver, who was given the week off to rest a niggling knee concern.

Seiuli added 132m, five linebreaks and eight tackle busts to his resume, while Gold Coast Titans develoment contracted forward Ryan Foran was also handed his debut.

Foran will join the Titans Top 30 squad next year, and did enough for Penna to suggest further chances in Cup would come for him this year.

“It’s been great for Ioane, I’m probably not as hard on anybody as Ioane but he’s worked really hard,” Penna said.

“He’s worked hard on his game, he’s been in and out of teams and in different positions but it was really pleasing to see him do so well.

“Ryan got some time for us which is great, another young fella made his debut. That’s 10 for the year to debut for the club which is great.

“He played well, he works hard on his game defensively and he’s strong and runs hard. He’ll get more opportunities across the year.”

Meanwhile in the Burleigh Bears 40-24 win over Clydesdales, Matthew Koellner made a compelling case to remain in the QCup side for the long term.

Last year’s RLGC co-representative player of the year made the move from Tugun to Pizzey Park in a bid to push for a state-league berth, having played just one game for Tweed in 2021.

Koellner’s maiden appearance in the maroon and white was impressive; scoring a try and running for 158m from just 30 minutes off the bench.

And he backed it up again on Saturday, with the towering prop scoring once again.

nick.wright@news.com.au