NRL round four: Dolphins defeat Gold Coast Titans 30-14, Max Plath faces suspension for hip drop tackle

The Dolphins got the result over the winless Titans in the Queensland derby, but potentially at a cost, as one of their players is facing a lengthy suspension for an ugly hip drop tackle.

GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 30: Players grapple during the round four NRL match between Gold Coast Titans and Dolphins at Cbus Super Stadium, on March 30, 2024, in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Dolphins forward Max Plath is facing a lengthy suspension following an ugly hip drop tackle in a 30-14 win against the Gold Coast Titans on Saturday night.

Max Plath was sin binned for this dangerous tackle on Phillip Sami.

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Plath was sin-binned after landing awkwardly on the legs of Titans winger Phil Sami as Gold Coast’s shocking start to the season was compounded with another loss at Cbus Super Stadium.

“They’ll have to look at it. It’s a difficult area the hip drop,” Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett said.

“Max Plath doesn’t have a dirty bone in his body. It was never intentional, we don’t coach it, we never talk about it or practice anything like that.

“If it’s gone wrong, we’ll have to pay the consequences.”

Sami battled through a sore ankle to score two tries in vain as the Titans squandered a 10-0 lead and continued their poor start to life under Des Hasler with a third straight defeat.

The hip drop tackle on Phillip Sami that saw Max Plath sent to the sin bin. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

SINKING SHIP

What on earth is going on at the Titans?

After terrible losses to the Dragons and Bulldogs, the Titans looked to have turned a corner when they burst out to a 10-0 lead with tries to Jaimin Jolliffe and Sami in the opening 13 minutes.

The Titans remain winless this season. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

The Titans were controlling possession and forcing errors from the Dolphins, whose ball control and discipline was shocking in the early exchanges.

But they didn’t go anywhere near capitalising on a one-man advantage when Plath was sent to the bin and a Jack Bostock double somehow gave the Dolphins a 12-10 lead at the break.

The floodgates opened midway through the second half and didn’t close and the pressure is intensifying on Hasler to find an answer to this Titanic Des-aster.

“You could probably copy and paste last week’s (32-0) loss to Bulldogs,” Hasler said.

“We’re not putting two halves together or executing well. We had a great opportunity to put them to the sword when they had one in the sin-bin and we came up with three errors.

“We’re not good enough yet, we’re still growing. Defensively we need to not put so much pressure on ourselves. It’s all to do with our attack.

“I can line up the excuses, a list this long, but what’s the point?

“There’s enough that we’re showing, we’ve just got to get better at it. We’ve given up 30 points again.

“There’s plenty there to build on. We start well, create some good platforms then give it all away and it’s not going to get any easier.

“We’ll get better, we’ve got to get better. There were some encouraging signs.”

With captain Tino Fa’asuamaleaui (knee) out for the season, the return of Jayden Campbell and David Fifita provided some spark for the Titans until the latter found himself on report for an attempted trip.

DOLPHINS SWIMMING

Wayne Bennett said before the game he had no idea what the Dolphins would dish up and he would have been horrified watching their error-riddled first 20 minutes.

Down 10-0, the sin-binning of Plath seemed to steel the Dolphins and they grew in confidence when the Titans couldn’t get remotely close to scoring against 12 men.

The Dolphins sit in first on the NRL ladder after the victory. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

As soon as the Dolphins remembered how to hold the ball they found chinks in the Titans’ flimsy armour.

Herbie Farnworth bagged his first try as a Dolphin, Tom Flegler was too strong in steamrolling Tanah Boyd and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow’s class was too much for the Titans.

The Dolphins will be gunning for a 3-1 start to the season when they host the Tigers next Saturday before a blockbuster Battle of Brisbane against the Broncos in round 6.

“We’re pretty pleased with ourselves,” Bennett said.

“We had our moments, went through some tough moments at 10-0 down and a guy in the sin bin, but we kept battling.

“You can feel a bit sorry for yourself or not let your teammate down.

“Max is such a highly valued member of the team. The boys think so highly of him, they weren’t going to let him down.

“I couldn’t have asked them to respond any better.”

Originally published as NRL round four: Dolphins defeat Gold Coast Titans 30-14, Max Plath faces suspension for hip drop tackle