Wooden spooners, hey? Better look elsewhere. The Gold Coast Titans are well on the way to upgrading their kitchen utensils after another win that has the former battlers up to their ears in the race for the NRL finals.
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Titans storm home against Eels
Clint Gutherson puts on a masterclass to try and keep Parramatta's minuscule finals hopes alive. But the Titans prove too strong, with Chris McQueen grabbing a double.
The outfit many picked to finish last continued their strong run of form on Saturday, toppling Parramatta 34-14 at Robina to move to seventh on the ladder, while officially ending the faint finals hopes of the Eels in the process.
In front of 15,273 on a glorious winter's day, the Titans lived up to the climate with a commanding performance that has set up their season with six games to play, three of those on home turf starting next week with the Sharks.
Former Warriors centre Konrad Hurrell has been a superb mid-season purchase, adding some power running to their midfield and giving an invaluable option to young halfback Ash Taylor, who impressed once again.
The Eels never dropped their heads and were some chance after Bevan French's acrobatic excellence in the 58th minute. But the Titans have made a habit of playing out their games this season and never looked like losing their shape.
Coach Neil Henry has built an impressive football team that are to be underrated no longer. Three wins out of their final six could be enough, with Henry saying their record should come as no surprise to educated fans.
"They [Titans]Â are a good team. Everyone is surprised about the performances. We're not surprised. We work very hard. We've handled a bit of adversity. We're all in this together," Henry said.
"We're a hard team to beat. We're competitive. But we need to look at ways to keep improving."
Eels coach Brad Arthur said his players understood the finals were now impossible but he expected them to give everything over the final rounds.Â
"They kept fighting to the end. It was a tough ask. They're disappointed the season is over but we set standards and expectations of what sort of team we want to play like. They played exceptionally hard."
It was a painful start for Hurrell, who was asking the trainer for a bag of frozen peas after taking a nasty shot below the belt. He took plenty of time to get back to his feet and was walking on eggshells before finally rejoining the defensive line.
His unfortunate injury didn't seem to slow him down for long, mind you, with the big three-quarter putting the pain aside to barnstorm his way across for the opening try.
It was the hottest July day on record for the Gold Coast and the home side looked intent on having their day in the sun. They went up 8-0 after Anthony Don pounced on a Nene McDonald kick, then 14-0 by the 19th minute thanks to Souths discard Chris McQueen.
You could easily wonder how much fight the Eels have left in them, given the season the club has endured, but the signs were looking better the longer the half went, especially when Kenny Edwards sent it to the break at 14-4.
Titans hooker Nathan Friend wasn't with the home side as they returned to the field, missing the remainder with a hamstring injury. It was left to Taylor to edge them further ahead with a penalty before French produced the play of the night.
The brilliant young centre chased Clint Gutherson's chip, which presented McDonald with a horror bounce and popped up into the air. French plucked it from the sky and slammed it down just before it went dead, ending the spectacular move with a front flip.
That gave the Eels a spring in their step but the comeback was short-lived. The Titans rallied strongly, pouring pressure on the Eels' line and scoring through McDonald, who soared powerfully to grab a Tyrone Roberts kick and make it 22-8 with 10 minutes on the clock.
Both sides traded late tries but the result was already beyond doubt, with Taylor having the final say with a simple put-down under the sticks at the stroke of full-time.
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