Warriors record gritty 28-18 win over Titans to keep pressure on top two on NRL ladder

At Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast: Titans 18 (David Fifita 22 min, Joe Stimson 51 min, Jayden Campbell 63 min tries; Tanah Boyd 2 goals, Jayden Campbell goal). Warriors 28 (Shaun Johnson 26, 34 min, Jackson Ford 42 min, Tohu Harris 72 min, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 76 min tries; Johnson 4 goals). HT: 6-12

On report: Chris Randall (Titans)

Sin binned: Marata Niukore (Warriors)

Sent off: Moeaki Fotuaika (Titans)

The Warriors defeated the Titans for their fourth win a row, beating a team that had to play for an hour with only 12 players on the field.

Titans prop Moeaki Fotuaika was sent off for a sickening shoulder charge on Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, which took the fullback out of the game and while it took a while for things to click with the Warriors, once that happened, they worked their way towards win No 13 for the season.

The Warriors’ performance was flatter than it had been in recent weeks, their attack struggled to get going and they relied too heavily on Shaun Johnson producing magic moments.

However, two points are two points and the Warriors need to win just two of their remaining four games this season to confirm their spot in the top eight for the first time since 2018.

Jazz Tevaga was back for the first time since round eight with Bunty Afoa dropping out of the team and there was bad news for the Titans before kick off, with there inspirational fullback and captain AJ Brimson not getting through the warm-up.

Neither team was able to get the upper hand early on. Mitch Barnett and Addin Fonua-Blake defended well in the middle early in the Titans’ sets and were able to contain the likes of Isaac Liu and David Fifita.

The Titans’ tactics were on the wrong side of the law as their plan to deal with Dallin Watene-Zelezniak consisted of grabbing him by the hair, but even worse came in the 17th minute as Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was knocked out when Fotuaika smashed his shoulder into the winger’s face, which resulted in the prop getting sent off.

Soon after Marata Niukore was sin binned for slapping David Fifita in the face and the giant Titans second rower had another big influence on the game a few minutes later when he charged over for the opening try.

The Warriors’ attack had been lacklustre for most of the first half, but in the 28th minute Johnson took matters into his own hands and danced his way through the defence to score his 73rd try for the club.

Then with five minutes left in the half the Warriors scored a stunning try, with Johnson and Watene-Zelezniak swapping passes between each other and Johnson scored again.

Jackson Ford bagged a third Warriors try early in the second half and the Warriors had opportunities to put the game to bed afterwards.

But they allowed the Titans back in the game when Joe Stimson and Jayden Campbell scored tries to get the score 18-18.

With eight minutes to go and the prospect of golden point time for the second game in a row for the Warriors was looming, Wayde Egan flicked a pass inside to Tohu Harris close to the line, with the Warriors skipper going in and the win was confirmed when Watene-Zelezniak scored a few minutes later.

AT A GLANCE

The big moment

Moeaki Fotuaika’s sending off in the 17th minutes was justified and it made the Titans chances of winning this game significantly slimmer.

Match rating

7/10: It was a patchy performance from the Warriors, but they made the most of their opportunities at the end of the game to defeat an understrength Titans team.

MVP

If it wasn’t for Shaun Johnson it’s hard to see how the Warriors would have won this game. While others had off days, his two first half tries were vintage Johnson.

The big picture

It would now take a cataclysmic collapse for the Warriors to miss out on the top eight and this win keeps alive hopes of even finishing in the top two.