Titans keep playoff hopes alive with Tigers victory

Gold Coast Titans boosted their faint hopes of making the NRL playoffs this season with a 26-14 victory against Wests Tigers at Campbelltown Stadium, consigning the Tigers to the bottom of the NRL ladder.

Titans fullback Jarryd Hayne, backing up two days after playing for NSW in State of Origin, scored two tries to help his side to victory.

However, his NSW team-mate James Tedesco was out for the Tigers, with Kevin Naiqama slotting in at fullback and Malakai Watene-Zelezniak coming in on the wing. Captain Aaron Woods backed up after Origin II.

For the Titans, Tyrone Roberts was out, with Jamal Fogarty making his NRL debut in the halves. Joe Greenwood started in the back row, replacing Chris McQueen, while Agnatius Paasi joined the bench. Origin reps Nathan Peats and Jarrod Wallace also played for the Titans.

The Titans scored five tries in total, with Konrad Hurrell also scoring a double and William Zillman scoring the other. Ash Taylor added three conversions.

The Tigers scored thrrre tries by Esan Marsters, David Nofoaluma and Sauaso Sue, with Tui Lolohea landing one conversion.

The crucial minutes of the match were between the 50th and 60th, when Hurrell touched down and Hayne added both his tries to effectively seal the game for the Titans.

Tigers: 5 Kevin Naiqama, 2 David Nofoaluma, 3 Esan Marsters, 4 Moses Suli, 18 Malakai Watene-Zelezniak, 6 Tui Lolohea, 7 Luke Brooks, 8 Aaron Woods (C), 9 Jacob Liddle, 10 Ava Seumanufagai, 11 Sauaso Sue, 12 Kyle Lovett, 13 Elijah Taylor; Interchange: 14 Matthew Eisenhuth, 15 JJ Felise, 16 Michael Chee Kam, 17 Matt McIlwrick.

Titans: 1 Jarryd Hayne, 2 Anthony Don, 3 Dale Copley, 4 Konrad Hurrell, 5 Will Zillman, 21 Jamal Fogarty, 7 Ashley Taylor, 8 Jarrod Wallace, 9 Nathan Peats, 10 Ryan James (C), 11 Kevin Proctor, 17 Joe Greenwood, 13 Max King; Interchange: 14 John Olive, 15 Pat Politoni, 16 Morgan Boyle, 20 Agnatius Paasi.

Full coverage of all the weekend’s NRL matches can be found in Monday’s issue of League Express