Marzhew magic guides Titans to gritty Cbus victory

Gold Coast coach Justin Holbrook was impressed with the 10-game flyer's performance, giving credit to his tough carries out of yardage and his two tries on the right wing.

The Legion also relished the return of AJ Brimson who made his return from injury in the clash in Round 2, with the No. 6 having a hand in two tries in the complete performance in his new position.

Match summary

The start at Cbus couldn't have been any better for the Titans with AJ Brimson given the best possible welcome back home with an opening in the Warriors' defence 40 metres out from his own line, sliding through and running the distance before linking up with Beau Fermor to score the opening points of the contest in the first set of the match.

It didn't take long for the home side to be in again in the 14th minute when a classy shift down the right side saw Campbell throw a looping cut-out to Greg Marzhew, who pushed past Reece Walsh with ease to score his first try of the afternoon.

Things were looking good for the Gold Coast until Wayde Egan burrowed his way over from dummy-half to put the Warriors on the board in the 18th minute, but the Titans were quick to hit back with Marzhew combining with David Fifita to bag his double. 

The barging back-rower throwing a long ball out to the powerful winger, who ran over the top of Walsh for his double. 

Leading 16-6, the Titans would've loved to have their last five minutes of the first half back, making unforced errors which in turn, put their defence under pressure - leading to two quick four-pointers scored by the visitors. This included a 50-50 decision right on the stroke of half-time after a captain's challenge overturned the referee's held up decision as the siren sounded, resulting in a try to Adam Pompey.

Heading into the sheds trailing by two points, the Legion still had plenty of faith in their team turning the tables and whilst they had to wait a little it was in the 57th minute that Toby Sexton came up with a play to get things going - a brilliant fifth-tackle grubber to the in-goal to force a line dropout.

In the following set, points ensued when a well-timed right to left shift allowed AJ Brimson to fire a pin-point pass to Phil Sami, who sprinted away and scored near the left hand corner untouched, edging the Titans back in front 20-18.

That's where the score remained as the Gold Coast held on to claim their first victory of the 2022 season.