It has been a tough week for the Gold Coast Titans mainly due to the news that star half Daly Cherry-Evans opted to renege on his deal but despite that, they produced a resilient performance to win.
The Titans withstood a late fightback from the Tigers, seemingly catapulted by an unusual decision by Aidan Sezer to kick a field goal quite early.
Snapping their three-game winning streak, it was a late try for Anthony Don that eventually sealed the win.
The Tigers almost clawed their way back towards a win, as they capitalised on some Titans errors and misfortune to pile on several unanswered tries.
Chris Lawrence ended up with a double, in what was his first try in over a year and the Tigers first try in more than 167 minutes of play.
James Tedesco also put on a show as he scored a try of his own after slicing through defenders, proving a handful all-game for the Titans defence.
There were some sour moments for the Titans, though, with Aidan Sezer placed on report for swearing and young in-form half Kane Elgey departing the field with an ankle syndesmosis injury.
The Tigers debuted two local juniors, one of whom was Manaia Cherrington who almost scored a try with his first touch of the footy, only to be denied by the video ref for not grounding the ball.
The field goal was the subject of much debate and Titans coach Neil Henry weighed in on it.
“The field goal was a weird one, Aidan said he looked at the scoreboard and couldn’t see the two points, he forgot about the two points the Tigers already had,” Henry said.
“But in the end it ended up being seven points [difference] so it made it very difficult for them to get back in the game late. In a roundabout way [it made sense] in the end.”
The Tigers focus is largely based around defence and in their four-game losing run, soft tries have been hard to fathom but coach Jason Taylor believes they are moving in the right direction.
“We’ve had four losses but the pain we felt in the first two losses was way worse than the pain in the last two weeks – because we aren’t as far away. I suppose in that regard we’re moving in the right direction,” Taylor said.
“We’ve got to learn the hard way. That’s by getting out there each week and feeling the pain. We’re feeling the pain right now. We’ve been feeling the pain for a few weeks in a row but we’ve still got a way to go.”
Player of the Game:
3. Anthony Don
2. James Tedesco
1. Aidan Sezer
Gold Coast Titans 27 (Anthony Don, Aidan Sezer, Kane Elgey, James Roberts Tries; Aidan Sezer 4, Daniel Mortimer Goals; Aidan Sezer Field Goal) defeated Wests Tigers 20 (Chris Lawrence 2, James Tedesco Tries, Pat Richards 4 goals) at Leichhardt Oval. Crowd: 7,103. Halftime: Titans 16-2. On Report: Aidan Sezer (Titans), Sauaso Sue (Tigers).