After a poor start had the Titans trailing the visiting Wests Tigers early, a customary piece of Jaime Chapman individual brilliance got the wheels turning for her side in Round 2, scoring her side’s first try on their way to a 28-12 win.
Running a fruitful line back inside to collect a ball from halfback Lauren Brown, it was the first of her three tries for the afternoon, with the representative back picking up her fourth career hat-trick.
It was also the second consecutive game the Gold Coast had a player score a hat-trick, with Emily Bass picking up three tries in their Round 1 win against the Dragons.
“All the credit to Loz; she always sets me up for everything, she's a legend, so all credit to Loz,” Chapman said.
“It was a good win; the Tigers came out really strong, and we expected that.
“They're a very strong team and they came up and showed up today.
“Murph (coach Karyn Murphy) really prides our team on a strong start and our defence, so we'll focus on that and come Round 3, we’ll be better than we were today at our start.
“At half-time, she just told us what had to be said and she's the best to do it too, so we all respect her, and we all listen to her.
“I think we definitely went out second half and stuck to her word.”
Chapman gets 3 in dominant display
Cementing herself as one of the rising stars of the game, Chapman's three tries came as part of an eye-catching overall performance, running for 256 metres with three line breaks and five tackle breaks.
Played in front of a vocal 11,105 crowd, Chapman was grateful to see the support they had gathered in their run to the grand final had continued to show up, especially with the game celebrating Women in League Round.
“Women in League Round, 11,000 people; we love our Gold Coast Titans fans and to do it here at home and to take home the win on a day like today with the men playing after us was pretty cool, what a round to do it,” Chapman said.
This coming week, the Titans will travel to Brisbane to take on the Broncos in a local derby, with the Indigenous All Stars and NSW Sky Blues representative keen to play again her former side.
“We know Broncos are going to come strong," Chapman said.
“But just like today, we will focus on our d and start strong and the attack will come.
“As long as we get everything right and the little one percenters and really focus on our recovery this week, I think we'll be good for the Broncos game.”
Match: Broncos v Titans
Round 3 -
home Team
Broncos
6th Position
away Team
Titans
5th Position
Venue: Totally Workwear Stadium, Brisbane