Billy Slater leads Melbourne Storm fightback over Gold Coast Titans in final game in Queensland
THE Titans have fallen just short of upsetting competition leaders Melbourne after being denied a late penalty in Billy Slater’s final match in Queensland.
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THE Titans have fallen just short of upsetting competition leaders Melbourne after being denied a late penalty in Billy Slater’s final match in Queensland.
Slater, who will retire at the end of the season, farewelled his home state Queensland with a vintage performance to snuff out the Titans’ hopes of an upset, the Storm winning 10-8.
The 35-year-old finished with a career-high 289 run metres as he led an understrength Storm to a gritty second-half fightback after the Titans led 8-0 at the break.
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Despite a dominant first-half showing, Gold Coast were left disappointed at the final hooter, with Ash Taylor controversially denied a penalty after being hit late and high by Storm forward Joe Stimson nine minutes from fulltime.
The Titans were within kicking range at the time and a successful shot at goal would have tied the match up.
Instead, the halfback was forced to leave the field, with the Titans left bewildered by the decision.
It was a game that summed up the Gold Coast’s season.
Patches of brilliant play and hard work nullified by moments of madness and sloppy defence.
In front of a crowd of 14,266 at Cbus Super Stadium, the Titans sprinted to the lead, with AJ Brimson diving over for the opening try just four minutes after the kick-off.
Playing against his childhood hero Slater, Brimson looked every bit a natural fullback, creating havoc in attack and saving tries in defence as he continues to build a case to hold the No. 1 jersey next season.
The speed at which Slater plays has always marked him apart from others and Brimson has the same quality, attacking the ball at full pace at every opportunity and keeping his opponents guessing.
Comparing the two is unfair in the extreme to the 19-year-old Titan, with Slater rated by many the greatest fullback of all time.
But the Gold Coast teen is showing exactly why the Titans have been so keen on him for so long.
His defence, in particular was outstanding tonight, with one-on-one tackles on Slater, Addo-Carr and Olam stopping almost certain tries.
Brimson’s try and Taylor’s conversion gave the Titans a 6-0 lead and they elected to take the two points on offer when they gained a penalty just minutes later, pushing their buffer to eight points.
Phillip Sami looked over for all money when he pounced on a clever grubber from Brimson close to the line but desperate defence from Josh Addo-Carr rolled him over the line in a move that proved a matchwinner.
After keeping the Storm scoreless for almost 39 minutes, the Titans decided to play on after gaining a penalty in the dying stages of the first half only to have Melbourne centre Justin Olam deny them with an off-side play.
Gold Coast captain Ryan James’s protestations that a blatantly off-side Olam should have been sent to the sin bin given the Storm had been penalised several times in succession were ignored by match officials.
Taylor’s resulting penalty attempt after the siren was unsuccessful, with the Titans taking an 8-0 lead to the break.
The Storm were missing a raft of stars including Will Chambers, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Suliasi Vunivalu and Ryan Hoffman, the Storm were ripe for the picking.
But they were never going to go down without a fight.
Curtis Scott scored just five minutes after the break to reduce the deficit to four points and while Olam looked to have got the teams back on even terms soon after, replays showed he had put a foot into touch.
It was Cameron Munster that locked things up when he mesmerised Titans defenders as he drifted across field before beating Kane Elgey for pace as he straightened up.
Cameron Smith’s conversion gave the Storm the lead that proved the difference in the end, with Melbourne hanging on for a 10-8 win.
MELBOURNE STORM 10 (Curtis Scott, Cameron Munster tries; Cameron Smith goal) def GOLD COAST TITANS 8 (AJ Brimson try; Ash Taylor 2 goals).
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