NRL Round One: NZ Warriors bring Gold Coast Titans down to size

The Titans were ambushed by the Warriors as the NZ side recorded a 19-6 win in a fast-flowing affair which raised questions about the NRL’s new rules.

Kodi Nikorima of the Warriors scores a try during the round-one NRL match between the New Zealand side and the Gold Coast Titans at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday. Picture: Ashley Feder/Getty Images

The NRL’s most hyped team is feeling the heat after the Gold Coast’s highly paid man David Fifita flopped in his Titans debut against the resurgent Warriors.

The Titans were ambushed by the Warriors at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday as New Zealand recorded a 19-6 win in a fast-flowing affair which raised questions about the NRL’s new rules.

Battling illness, Fifita looked far from the game-breaking sensation he was at the Broncos and was hooked with 10 minutes to go as the Titans failed their first test.

After finishing ninth last season with a five-game winning streak, the Titans were expected to contend for this year’s NRL finals series.

They will have to produce a much better performance in Fifita’s first match against former club Brisbane in Friday’s Queensland derby at Cbus Super Stadium to get their season on track.

David Fifita of the Titans grimaces during a trial match between the Titans and the Warriors on February 27. Picture: Getty Images

Fifita became one of the NRL’s highest-paid players after the Titans splurged $3.5m to poach him from the Broncos on a club record three-year deal.

The 21-year-old is capable of blowing games open with his freakish talent and power, but he could not get going after surprisingly switching sides with fellow back-rower Kevin Proctor.

Fifita made only five runs in the first half and while he was busier in the second stanza, finishing with 13 runs for 110m, there was no matchwinning play when the Titans needed a moment of brilliance.

His defensive lethargy was exposed when hard-running Warriors prop Bunty Afoa charged through Fifita and fellow big-name recruit Tino Fa’asuamaleaui in the 69th minute for the match-sealing try.

The Titans’ 12 errors proved to be the difference against a Warriors team that completed at 93 per cent.

New Warriors coach Nathan Brown kicked off his New Zealand career with a win against the odds.

The Warriors were not expected to be finals contenders in 2021 but they will give plenty of rivals trouble if they can keep playing like that.

The NRL has hit back at criticism of its new rules after players were left gassed during the opening games of the season.

The Titans-Warriors game was played in 31-degree heat and the players looked exhausted after the first 20 minutes.

Friday night’s Broncos-Eels game descended into a Rugby Sevens style contest in the dying minutes.

The NRL has introduced more six-again rules instead of penalties and wrestling looks to have decreased.

But the NRL insisted the game is not any faster.

“The quality of the football has been excellent considering they’ve all only played one trial,” NRL head of football Graham Annesley said.

“The fears of the game being massively faster than last year haven’t eventuated. We have seen less ball-in-play and it’s been no faster or more continuous than it was last year at this stage.’’

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