Key three: Lofi smashes record but Roosters dominate with Crichton triple
Roosters forward Angus Crichton has continued his scintillating season with a hat-trick helping steer the Roosters to a dominant 48-22 victory against the Tigers on Sunday.
In what began as a tit-for-tat contest between the combatants, the Roosters wasted no time in troubling the scorers with opening points going to the tri-colours' edge forward in only the third minute.
But Alofiana Khan-Pereira hit straight back in the opening 10 minutes, breaking his club try-scoring record with the first of his two four-pointers, before backing it up 15 minutes with an incredible individual length of the field try.
Straight after the young gun's brilliance, the flood gates opened with the Chooks scoring three tries in quick succession before the half-time break; and to rub salt into the wounds, the Titans weren't able to capitalise on Jared Warea-Hargreaves binning for a high shot on Sam Verrills early in the first half.
Whilst points continued to flow for the visitors, the Titans minimised the onslaught with two consolation tries - a never-say-die play from Kini in the 49th minute before Khan-Pereira topped off a big individual day for himself with a freakish four-pointer in the corner with four minutes to play.
Here are the key talking points:
Match: Titans v Roosters
Round 25 -
home Team
Titans
14th Position
away Team
Roosters
2nd Position
Venue: Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
Poor discipline proves costly again
Respect for the football has been an all too common theme from Des Hasler this season and the Gold Coast's poor discipline let them down again in their chase of the tri-colours.
Only completing at 68 percent by half-time - eight errors made the going even more challenging for the home side, who knew the Roosters were bringing their A game in their pursuit of second spot on the ladder.
Whilst there was some improvement in the second 40, the overall completion rate of 77 percent fell short of the Roosters' 83 percent.
Hasler's demand for perfection has paid off during the season with the Gold Coast having the best completion rate in the competition - 82 percent - but the experienced mentor would be disappointed in his team's showing on Sunday afternoon.
Setting records... and then breaking them for fun
Alofiana Khan-Pereira's name was already in the history books... but he's outdone himself with an incredible feat.
Scoring 43 tries in 42 appearances, he's once again broken the Titans' most tries in a season with a scintillating hat-trick - as he surges closer and closer to claiming the Ken Irvine Medal.
Bringing up the record with his 21st four-pointer in only the ninth minute, the young flyer didn’t stop there, picking up his first hat-trick of 2024 to add to his five doubles and Round 16 four-try haul – further cementing himself as the leading try-scorer in the NRL this season.
In only his second season in first grade, the 22-year-old is only improving with every game under his belt and is now four tries of clear of next best - Roosters winger Dominic Young.
Chooks curse continues
The Titans will now have to wait until 2025 to attempt to break their losing streak against the Roosters which currently spans eight years.
Not having beaten the tri-colours since Round 10, 2016 at Cbus Super Stadium, it remains the longest drought for the Gold Coast and will be continued into the new season after the tough loss.
