Crichton the catalyst for Rabbitohs' comeback, the highs and lows of Konrad Hurrell, Jekyll and Hyde Bunnies keep their season alive and Titans add even more players into their ever-growing casualty ward.
Crichton the catalyst for Souths comeback
South Sydney fans got a look at the man-who-will-be-Sam with Angus Crichton stepping up to inspire his team after they had dished up an insipid opening against an injury-ravaged Titans.
With Anthony Don joining the list of absentees for the Titans the Bunnies were missing one of their own when Sam Burgess was a late withdrawal with a glute injury and for half an hour it appeared they would be lost without him.
But a Gold Coast loose pass that was pounced on by Bryson Goodwin allowed the Rabbitohs to swing momentum their way with Crichton heavily involved in the four tries they scored in 22 minutes either side of half-time.
A devastating runner on the right edge, Crichton scored twice himself in that period and provided the impetus for Cody Walker's and further emphasised his status as one of the game's most exciting young talents, rounding it out with a 35-metre run and fending away from four Titans defenders to score his third.
Highs and lows of Konrad Hurrell
As the Titans bounced out to an unlikely 14-0 lead inside the first 18 minutes Konrad Hurrell was at the heart of the effort that was winning them the contest.
Selected in the centres but doing the grunt work that any of the forwards would have been proud of, Hurrell was almost unstoppable in the first 29 minutes, finishing the first half with 96 run metres and six tackle busts.
But sometimes Koni's energy can be misplaced and a failure to rein in a loose pass from Pat Politoni, a penalty for back-chat and racing out of the line to put a shot on that gave South Sydney the space to score through Alex Johnston undid some of his earlier good work.
He brought down Damien Cook in a desperate tackle and then gave away a penalty, earned a penalty with a charge, took a quick tap and then gave up possession by making a mess of the play-the-ball.
If everyone tried as hard as Hurrell the Titans would never lose, he just has to be mindful of his discipline.
Titans interchange a lonely place again
They could barely come up with 21 names to complete the team list on Tuesday and by the end of 80 minutes the Titans were again left to count the cost of their fourth straight loss.
Joe Greenwood (concussion), Pat Politoni (leg) and Ashley Taylor (concussion) were all forced from the field in the second half while Ryan James was nursing a knee injury that he picked up in the sixth minute of the game.
Gold Coast need a miracle now to qualify for the finals and while it may be forgotten in time it will go down as one of the most injury-interrupted seasons of any team in the history of the Telstra Premiership.
Jekyll and Hyde Bunnies keep season alive
You could not possibly watch what the Rabbitohs dished up for 25 minutes and suggest they could play finals football in 2017 but an extraordinary second half in which they scored 26 points to nil allows the flame to flicker for at least a further fortnight.
Heading into a bye next weekend South Sydney will have 14 competition points when they take on the Panthers in Round 17 and needing to win seven of their remaining 10 games to be in top-eight contention.
Halfback Adam Reynolds grew into the game the longer it went, John Sutton is doing a serviceable job at five-eighth, Robbie Farah and Damien Cook produce flashes of brilliance out of dummy-half and Tom and George Burgess still look below the standard we have come to expect of them.
The Rabbitohs' next three games are against the Panthers, Cowboys and Sharks; we'll discover their true character over the course of those three games.
Greenwood's sickening head clash puts immediate future in doubt
The way Joe Greenwood fell to the turf in the 58th minute after a head clash with teammate Ryan James combined with his history of concussions will put his immediate playing future with the Titans in some doubt.
Moving in to make a tackle near South Sydney's line, Greenwood and James's heads crashed together and the big Englishman fell backward to the turf, taken from the field to play no further part in the contest.
After suffering two concussions in the first five weeks of his debut season in the NRL Greenwood was stood down for two weeks but said at the time that he didn't believe it posed a threat to his long-term future.
Given the nature of this latest knock he will have to be handled with care in the coming weeks.
