The Gold Coast Titans turned it on in front of a large home crowd at Skilled Park, Robina to blow away an undermanned Broncos outfit last night 34-18.
Kicking off Round 20 of the 2009 NRL, the Titans have the Top 8 finals in their sights and weren’t about to take their foot off the gas as the approached the unrecognizable Brisbane side.
The Titans are now unbeaten at home for the entire 2009 NRL season and look to have a roster that will challenge for the title at the business end of the year.
The Coast opened the game with a bang; forward Mark Minichiello scoring after 10 minutes, Origin forward Ashley Harrison then cruising over just prior to the 15m mark, with improving forward Michael Henderson next and boom prospect Kevin Gordon getting his share of the action on the half hour mark.
The game over at halftime with the Titans leading 22-2 over the young Broncos.
The rewarding part for the Coast and their coach John Cartwright would be the continued impressive form of Scott Prince. The veteran half was involved in most of the tries and orchestrated things brilliantly.
It seems only injury can derail the Titans quest for their first semi-final NRL appearance.
The home side chose to rest Harrison, Friend and Minichiello in the final stages of the match as they bore slight injuries. This gave Brisbane some breathing space and the Cory Parker led side ran in some tries to make things respectable.
Antonio Winterstein heavily involved in the Brisbane points, with the Broncos eventually patching things up to lose by 34-14.
The Titans now sit on 28 points and are virtually ensured of a finals place. Their effort in the weeks ahead could see them confirm a Top 4 spot – ensuring a home final at Robina, which would be an ideal hunting ground for them.
The Broncos obviously hammered by injury; continue to spiral out of contention, their race for the finals looking too much to ask at this stage. Along with Penrith, punters believe the Brisbane side will be the ones to drop out of the race for the final 2 spots.