After going seven weeks without a win to start the season, the toughest part of the wait for the Titans was saved for the final 15 minutes on ANZAC Day.
Report ! M.Naveed
 |
The Gold Coast rugby league team had suffered from some heart-breaking losses in the past two weeks, losing to the Raiders by one point and the Sea Eagles by four points.
They found themselves in a similar situation when they were leading the game against the Warriors by three points with 15 minutes left to play. The Warriors were attacking relentlessly, and the Gold Coast team was defending their line.
In this tense moment, forward Erin Clark and his teammates were anxiously watching the game clock, which seemed to be ticking slowly. One of the players was checking the clock every ten seconds, hoping that it would count down faster. Finally, they got possession of the ball with only 56 seconds left on the clock. The team managed to hold on to their lead and win the game 27-24.
Clark described the win as “tough and gritty,” and said that winning a game in such a close manner was much better than an easy win. He also emphasized the importance of the victory to the team, saying that they have been going through a tough time recently and only the players and coaching staff truly understood how it felt.
The Gold Coast Titans went into Round 8 of the NRL season without a win, and were immediately under pressure from the New Zealand Warriors who took a 12-0 lead in the first nine minutes. However, the Titans managed to turn the game around and at one point led by 15 points, before the Warriors launched a late comeback. Although the win was not necessary for the Titans to remain mathematically in contention for the season, team captain Kieran Foran stressed the importance of the victory for morale. “We just had to find a way to win, it was as simple as that,” Foran said.
“We couldn’t afford to drop that one and I think you could feel the desperation from the boys. I’m extremely proud of the defensive effort at the end… we know we’d been unlucky the last two weeks, probably games that we should have won that we didn’t.”
David Fifita, who came on from the bench in the 20th minute with his powerful running game, and fullback AJ Brimson were the Gold Coast’s outstanding contributors, with Fifita changing the game when he came in.
The 25-year-old scored two tries in Auckland and ran for 183 metres on his way to players’ player honours, which meant all the more to him on a night in which the Titans won back the Zae Wallace Shield, named in honour of Brimson’s former flatmate and U-20 teammate who passed away in 2019.
“He was one of my best mates and I think he was out there with us at the end there, helping us get the win,” Brimson said.
“It’s very special; I love playing for the Zae Wallace Shield… I know he’d like this.”
