Club records tumble as Titans demolish Warriors
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Headlined by a four-try effort from Alofiana Khan-Pereira, the Titans have re-written club history with a 66-6 thrashing of the Warriors on Saturday afternoon at Cbus Super Stadium.
Set up by a near flawless opening 40 minutes in which they equaled their biggest ever first-half points tally, made eight line breaks and completed all but two of their 24 sets, the Gold Coast ran in 11 tries all up to cruise past their previous biggest winning margin of 44-0.
As well as the team record, Jayden Campbell broke Scott Prince's record of 20 for most points in a match with his 26-point haul that came from a try and 11 conversions from 11 attempts, while Khan-Pereira equaled Jordan Atkins' 2008 mark for tries in a single match.
By full-time the Gold Coast had made 12 line breaks to one and run for almost 800 metres more than their opponents, while the Warriors were woeful in almost all areas, coughing up 13 errors and missing 44 tackles.
After engaging the Warriors in an arm wrestle they always had the upper hand in through the opening 15 minutes, the Titans got their reward by way of a try-scoring blitz which saw Khan-Pereira, Beau Fermor and Chris Randall cross in the space of 10 minutes.
Chris Randall Try
While none of them were pretty from a Warriors point of view, Randall's effort on 26 minutes was particularly telling, as he palmed off feeble tackle attempts from Jackson Ford and Jazz Tevaga to stroll over from close range.
Keenan Palasia was next to go over, before Sam Verrills sliced through the middle with ease to make it 30-0, with the help of the perfect boot of Campbell.
Sam Verrills Try
After showing their ability on the other side of the ball with a prolonged goal-line stand to start the second half, Khan-Pereira picked off Shaun Johnson and bolted 90 metres down field for his second.
With Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in the bin for a dangerous tackle on 54 minutes which also saw him go on report, the Titans piled on the misery with an even heavier hand.
Keano Kini weaved through before Kieran Foran popped a lovely kick through for his halves partner Campbell to rack up one of his four try assists on the day.
Jayden Campbell Try
Te Maire Martin's four-pointer with 21 to play triggered a quick pause to the onslaught, but minutes later Khan-Pereira had his first career hat-trick, to become the outright leading try-scorer in 2024.
Kini then skinned the Warriors on the outside and made light work of round Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad to mark a perfect 10 tries for his men, with Khan-Pereira's late strike a healthy spoonful of cream on top.
Match: Titans v Warriors
Round 16 -
home Team
Titans
15th Position
away Team
Warriors
13th Position
Venue: Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
Match Snapshot
- The Titans smashed their previous club record for biggest ever win (44-0 v Warriors in 2021) and also recorded the biggest win ever by a Gold Coast premiership franchise.
- Jayden Campbell broke the record for most points in a game by a Titans player with a 26-point haul that took him past Scott Prince (20).
- The Gold Coast completed at 87 percent and ran for 2099 metres in the victory.
- Kieran Foran set up four tries in a brilliant outing, while in the yardage department Keano Kini (234) David Fifita (196) led the way.
- Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was put on report and sent to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle on 54 minutes.
- Jayden Campbell and Te Maire Martin were both cited for hip drops in the first half, while Warriors forward Marata Niukore was also put on report.
- With a hat-trick on Saturday, Titans winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira has now scored 15 tries in 16 games at Cbus Super Stadium.
Play of the Game
Just as the Warriors were finally building some pressure on the back of consecutive sets in the attacking 20, Khan-Pereira crushed them with a brilliant intercept and 90-metre dash to the line.
Alofiana Khan-Pereira 2nd Try
What They Said
"The part I enjoyed the most was in the first half there was a period where the ball was in continuous play for seven-and-a-half or eight minutes, and I thought that was a really crucial part of the game where we held in and were able to capitalise. That was the catalyst for the rest of what happened. I was very proud of that effort." – Titans coach Des Hasler.
Titans: Round 16
"How do you explain it? We obviously took for granted how well we were going and what we were doing each week to prepare and we got what we deserved on the field.... today is obviously very embarrassing, but we can definitely come back... at the end of the day we got rolled completely down the field and every single player is accountable for that today." – Warriors coach Andrew Webster.
Warriors: Round 16
What's Next
The Warriors head back to Auckland to face the music of what will be a disappointed Kiwi sporting public before taking on a desperate Broncos side on Saturday night at Go Media Stadium. The Titans have a week off with the bye before returning to action against the Sharks on July 5.
