CLOSING YOUR EYES WON’T HELP
Titans need to have a hard look at themselves after Broncos belting
THE Gold Coast Titans are missing a seriously important part of the puzzle – direction.
The Titans were rudderless when it mattered last night as the rampant Brisbane Broncos continued their charge towards a seventh NRL premiership with a 34-0 shutout.
Captain Nate Myles was relegated to the bench and while the Titans responded early to their skipper’s demotion they couldn’t stop the Broncos from sending them to a fifth straight loss.
The Titans weren’t bad in front of 27,665 at Suncorp Stadium.
They started the match in sizzling fashion, marching up the field in their opening sets to put pressure on Brisbane’s watertight defence.
But in their past 240 minutes of football they’ve managed to score a total of just eight points.
The Titans are impotent within 20m of the tryline – and it could get worse.
With five-eighth Aidan Sezer moving to Canberra, rookie halfback Kane Elgey will be expected to run the bulk of the playmaking.
The Titans are pursuing Broncos young gun Ashley Taylor to partner Elgey in the halves next season but he is far from a polished product and is still waiting to see if rival clubs will match the Gold Coast’s offer.
Just how long it will take coach Neil Henry to transform Elgey, and possibly Taylor, into dominant NRL halves is what stands between the Titans and a shot at the premiership.
Daly Cherry-Evans was supposed to be the saviour and his backflip is looking more costly by the day.
The Titans will miss the finals for the fifth straight season but they weren’t expected to feature in September with the roster they possess.
It was the slickest the Titans have looked with the ball all season but the desperate Broncos defence didn’t crack and when Brisbane received piggyback penalties it allowed Corey Parker to score against the Titans for the first time in his 314-game career.
Darius Boyd exposed some weak defence from Titans rookies Kane Elgey and Nene Macdonald before Ben Hunt fooled Agnatius Paasi then stood up ex-teammate Josh Hoffman to give the Broncos a 16-0 lead.
When Elgey left the field concussed so did any hope of a Titans comeback.
They lost 40m with a bumbling series of passes then gave away a penalty which saw the Broncos march up the field and score through Jarrod Wallace.
Kodi Nikorima and Alex Glenn scored to rub salt into the Gold Coast’s wounds and Brisbane’s line held solid in the final minutes despite countless Gold Coast raids.
No one is expecting miracles from the Gold Coast.
But if they don’t find direction they won’t taste success.