Season highlight ten for 2016 is the finals appearance against the Brisbane Broncos. Although not the result the club was after, it was a time of celebration with the team achieving a goal that many thought would not come this year.
It was the first finals appearance since 2010 for the club and the community rallied behind the side in the lead up to the match.
It was the perfect start for the Titans with Chris McQueen scoring the first try of the match in just the third minute of play after a Corey Oates fumble.
The first of many controversial decisions was handed down soon after when Konrad Hurrell was judged to have deliberately kicked out at the ball when Jordan Kahu was attempting to score a try. It was sent to the Bunker and it was ruled a penalty try, gifting the Broncos points.
Winger David Mead grounded an Ash Taylor grubber in the 13th minute to put the side back in the lead but Kahu grabbed his second soon after before Jarrod Wallace crashed over to put the Broncos in front. Josh Hoffman scored just before the break but the Broncos were holding on to a slim 18-16 lead at half-time.
The start to the second half didn’t go according to plan with Jarryd Hayne fumbling the kick-off and almost immediately Alex Glenn went over for the Broncos and he doubles his tally just minutes after, extending the home side’s lead. Oates basically secured victory in the 63rd minute when he was the beneficiary of a sublime pass from Darius Boyd, putting the lead out to 16 with as many minutes left on the clock.
McQueen bagged his double in the 66th minute but that was quickly cancelled out by an Anthony Milford try four minutes later. The same happened shortly after when Ryan James broke the record for most tries scored by a prop forward in a season but Oates delivered the final blow, scoring in the 78th minute to close out the match and with it, season 2016 for the Titans.
Brisbane Broncos 44 (Glenn 2, Kahu 2, Oates 2, Milford, Wallace tries; Kahu 6 goals) defeated Gold Coast Titans 28 (McQueen 2, Mead, Hoffman, James tries; 4 goals). Crowd: 43,170.
