The Gold Coast Titans will be doubling their efforts to get Canberra Raiders winger Jordan Rapana to return home after his stunning first-half hat-trick set up a convincing win over his old club.
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Jordan Rapana scored a first half hat-trick as the Canberra Raiders smashed a depleted Gold Coast Titans 42-16.
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Raiders ransack Gold Coast
Jordan Rapana scored a first half hat-trick as the Canberra Raiders smashed a depleted Gold Coast Titans 42-16.
The Green Machine rolled over the top of the Titans 42-16 on the Gold Coast on Saturday to hold their spot in the top eight.
Rapana registered 250m for the match with five line breaks and 16 tackles broken.
Star Canberra hooker Josh Hodgson got the ball rolling, darting out of dummy half and from the next tackle the Green Machine switched it to their right wing where Rapana opened the scoring.
Almost immediately he was over for his second.
This time an Aidan Sezer cross-field kick was caught by Rapana's brother in bromance, Joey Leilua, and then Junior Paulo's catch-and-pass allowed Rapana to cross untouched in just the 12th minute.
It looked like the Canberra flyer, who made his NRL debut for the Titans, would score a hat-trick inside the first 15 minutes, but that proved an optimistic thought - it actually took him 25.
Rapana revealed in the lead-up to the game his mate Kevin Proctor kept trying to lure him back to the Gold Coast. But with great teamwork from the Raiders it's hard to see him leaving.
"It came off the back of our forwards, we really rolled through the middle and I was just lucky enough to get on the end of it and get a few tries," Rapana said post-match.
Canberra captain Jarrod Croker was full of praise for the Raiders winger.
"When you see Rappa (Rapana) on the left it's like having another front rower, it's a pleasure to watch and I say it every week but you know what you're going to get out of Rappa," Croker said.
"He gets his 20 carries, he makes 150-200m, he breaks tackles and he tried his absolute best out there whether we're down 40-0 or up 40-0 he's going to do that every game."
Gold Coast coach Neil Henry says his side's defence was no up to standard he expects at NRL level.
"Some of our defence was pretty ordinary, we cant go away from it," Henry said.
"It wasn't committed enough, we had arms in tackles not bodies and they rolled. When you've got two of their players with 100 metres plus at the 20 minute mark, you're in trouble."
Rapana's second and third tries bookended the Titans' opening score, which came completely out of the blue.
The Raiders were in total control and had the Titans camped in their own half with 77 per cent possession, but a loose Elliott Whitehead pass as they pressed the Gold Coast line gave the home side false hope.
Titans winger Tyronne Roberts-Davis swooped on the ball and Gold Coast swept the length of the field for Anthony Don to cross in the opposite corner.
Raiders fullback Jack Wighton and Leilua both got in on the act to give Canberra five first-half tries.
Of course Rapana set up Leilua's, he grubbered it to himself before Whitehead's hook pass found Leilua in acres of space.
Somehow the Titans minimised the damage before the half-time break on the back of a Karl Lawton try.
They had just two chances to score in the opening stanza and converted both of them to only trail by 16 points going into the sheds.
It seemed like a different Gold Coast that emerged from them, scoring almost immediately from the restart.
Lawton turned providor, bursting through the middle of the Raiders' line before dishing off for Ashley Taylor to score under the posts.
Normal service resumed from there though with both of Canberra's second-rowers getting their names on the scoresheet.
Sezer's cross-field kicking has become a weapon in recent weeks and this time it was Whitehead who was the beneficiary.
Josh Papalii then got on the end of a Hodgson grubber kick before Nick Cotric scored to end the game as a contest.
Unfortunately for the Titans it didn't end as a game there as their injury woes deepened.
Fullback Tyrone Roberts limped off with a broken toe after going into the game under an injury cloud hanging over his knee.
He joins Jarryd Hayne (ankle), Nathan Peats (shoulder), Proctor (hamstring) and Chris McQueen (back) in the ever expanding Gold Coast sick room.
The Raiders host the New Zealand Warriors at Canberra Stadium on Saturday, while the Titans face the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night. with AAP
AT A GLANCE
CANBERRA RAIDERS 42 (Jordan Rapana 3, Jack Wighton, Joey Leilua, Elliott Whitehead, Josh Papalii, Nick Cotric tries; Aidan Sezer 5 goals) bt GOLD COAST TITANS 16 (Anthony Don, Karl Lawton, Ashley Taylor tries; Ashley Taylor 2 goals) at the Gold Coast. Referees: Ashley Klein, Chris Butler. Crowd: 12,390.
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