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Titans celebrate a try - Source: Getty Images
The New Zealand Warriors face an anxious wait to see if they
will stay alive in the National Rugby League playoffs after they
fell to a 28-16 defeat to bogey team Gold Coast in Queensland
tonight.
The loss means the Warriors will need at least two of the three
other teams that finished the regular season above them - minor
premiers St George Illawarra, Penrith and Wests Tigers - to win
their matches over the rest of the weekend.
If that happens, they will travel back across the Tasman in week
two of the finals. If not, their campaign will be over.
For the Warriors, who struggled to reproduce their form of recent
weeks, the damage was done in the opening spell, when the Gold
Coast ran in four tries and jumped out to a 22-6 halftime
lead.
During a second-half comeback, there was a personal milestone for
winger Manu Vatuvei, who grabbed the 78th try of his career and
went past Stacey Jones as the most prolific try-scorer in the
club's history.
The Titans had gone into the qualifying final in Robina with recent
history on their side, with a five-match winning streak against the
Warriors and having won all three encounters with the
Auckland-based club at Skilled Park.
They withstood some early pressure before dominating possession and
forcing holes in a Warriors defence that had been stingy during the
last five weeks of the regular season.
Winger William Zillman, pressed into the fullback role with Preston
Campbell's unavailability through injury, grabbed a first-half
double.
The Warriors were first on the board, when centre Brent Tate's
offload led to hooker Aaron Heremaia dotting down for a converted
try.
But the home side then struck back with a vengeance and it was no
surprise that influential skipper Scott Prince got the ball rolling
despite playing with a shoulder injury.
A Prince grubber into the in-goal led to a try to the speedy
Zillman before former Warrior Clinton Toopi got into the act.
Another Prince kick, this time a cross-field bomb, was tapped into
Toopi's hand and the centre made no mistake with the Titans' second
try.
Zillman grabbed his team's third after breaking through some weak
tackling, before veteran five-eighth Mat Rogers also dotted down to
make it a 16-point lead at the interval.
Prince added a penalty early in the second half before the Warriors
gave the away fans hope of a big come back.
Centre Joel Moon, a late replacement for Jerome Ropati, who was
ruled out with a shoulder injury sustained against Parramatta last
weekend, forced his way over, before Vatuvei got his
record-breaking try.
Finally put into some space as the visitors began getting more of
the ball, Vatuvei barged his way over through three defenders to
reduce the margin to 24-16.
However, Titans winger Kevin Gordon settled any jitters among the
home support when he crossed in the corner with a quarter-hour to
go.
Gold Coast Titans:
28 (William Zillman 2, Clinton Toopi,
Mat Rogers, Kevin Gordon tries; Scott Prince 4 goals)
New Zealand Warriors: 16 (Aaron Heremaia, Joel
Moon, Manu Vatuvei tries; James Maloney 2 goals)
