Against all odds at Leichhardt Oval, an inspirational 80 minutes of spirited defence has helped the Gold Coast Titans to an emphatic 22-10 Round 1 victory over the Wests Tigers.
Match: Wests Tigers v Titans
Round 1 -
home Team
Wests Tigers
16th Position
away Team
Titans
2nd Position
Venue: Leichhardt Oval, Sydney
Running out to a hostile Sunday afternoon crowd and having everything but the kitchen sink thrown towards the visitors, the indomitable effort helped break the Round 1 hoodoo that has been in place since 2018 and has shown the rest of the competition the Titans mean business this season.
Leading the charge in defence were new recruits Sam Verrills and Joe Stimson who both finished their nights with an incredible 40 tackles; with David Fifita and Aaron Schoupp both also hugely motivating keeping the Tigers out.
Phil Sami led the scoring charge with a first half double, alongside AJ Brimson and Sam McIntyre who also found the line throughout the clash.
Match highlights: Titans v Tigers
Here are the key three talking points from the victorious season opener:
1. Stoic defence denies Tigers victory
They may have peppered the Titans line all night long, but it only was felled twice throughout the contest despite the continuous attacking raids by the Tigers.
On the tough end of both a 9-3 penalty count and 5-2 six again's, the Gold Coast just kept defending, frustrating Wests into 14 errors.
Finishing the matchup making 330 tackles to the Tigers' 280, the ruthless and spirited defence proved to be the difference, with the added focus on the most crucial element of the game paying dividends in the season opener.
Titans defence seals the deal
2. Left or right doesn't worry Fifita
It was an 11th hour switch from the right to the left to cover the absence of Beau Fermor but the last-minute change didn't phase David Fifita one little bit.
Ending the first 40 minutes with 113 running metres, four tackle breaks, a try assist, a line break and an offload, the hard-running edge forward continued with his good work in the second half adding another 83 to his tally to finish the game just shy of 200 running metres in his first official outing of 2023.
David Fifita bust leads to Sami try
Whilst his numbers in attack were more than impressive, his defence should be what is really celebrated as one of the most influential Titans to help shut down the Tigers with an incredible 27 tackles and a number of one-percent effort plays.
3. Stimson shines in club debut
Promoted from the bench to the second row to cover Fermor's injury, the 27-year-old had more than a rousing club debut to kick-start his time on the Gold Coast.
In his 86th first grade appearance, the versatile forward was a defensive machine, finishing his first night in Titans colours topping the tackle count with 40 tackles; with the Tigers trying to isolate the new back-rower to no avail.
Whilst he didn't get much opportunity to run the footy given his high work rate in defence, it will be his outstanding work in the defensive line that Justin Holbrook will be most pleased about.
