It was a tough night out for the Titans in Round 2, going down to the Dragons after a promising start against the Red V in Sydney.
Leading 12-2 after 20 minutes, the Gold Coast let slip of their lead to concede 30 unanswered points in the next 50 minutes, before Tino Fa'asuamaleaui gave his side a glimmer of hope with a much-needed try, but it wasn't enough to initiate a comeback with the Dragons winning 32-18.
Despite being in a losing side, the Legion were given a glimpse of what AJ Brimson can do in open space, popping up as an elusive ball-runner that's hard to stop and with a return to his favourite place to play footy in the NRL next week, expect the Titans No. 1 to be in the thick of it in next Saturday afternoon's clash against the Storm at Cbus Super Stadium.
Match: Dragons v Titans
Round 2 -
home Team
Dragons
4th Position
away Team
Titans
8th Position
Venue: Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, Sydney
Here are the key three talking points from the match:
1. First round bye helps Dragons dominate
It was all the Dragons in the middle of the field, winning the battle up front to help the Dragons playmakers ice the cake in their first game of 2023.
Having the advantage of being fresh from drawing the bye in Round 1, the Titans weathered the storm in the opening 20 minutes; but a number of errors and penalties helped the home side piggyback up field and start to pile on points, going into the sheds ahead 16-12 at the break.
Continuing to win the ruck in the second 40 which led to further four-pointers, St George-Illawarra had a number of key team stats finish in their favour through the contest; including winning the possession battle (55 - 45 percent), making over 370 more metres and making less errors (13-8).
Verrills goes over from close range
2. Liu shines in beaten pack
With Jaimin Jolliffe ruled out of the clash with a pec injury, the Titans were looking for another man to help captain Tino Fa'asuamaleaui lead the pack and it was none other than Isaac Liu who answered the calling with a big opening stint.
Despite being part of a beaten pack, the 32-year-old got through 36 minutes and made 121 metres over 12 runs, sneaking 44 of those post-contact.
His defence was on-point in the middle third as a key to controlling the speed of the ruck with 15 tackles at 94 percent efficiency.
The experienced forward finished the match topping the Titans tally with 155 running metres and 24 tackles.
3. Brimson back as the tackle breaker
Despite being in a losing side, AJ Brimson couldn't be stopped in attack against the Dragons, finishing the 80 minutes with an incredible seven tackle breaks in the Titans fullback jersey.
Electric Brimson sets up Khan-Pereira
At one stage, Fox League's Steve Roach described Brimson as one of the hardest players to tackle after he had broken his sixth tackle of the night.
It notches this season's tackle breaks to double digits after only two games, after bringing up four in last week's season opener.
