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Gold Coast Titans vs St George Illawarra highlights: NRL scores, blog

30th August, 2015
Kickoff: 4pm (AEST)
Venue: Cbus Super Stadium
TV: Live, Nine Network
Last meeting: Dragons 28-14 Titans, Round 24 2014
Head-to-head: 14 played - Titans 4, Dragons 10
Titans last three games: 28-12 versus Raiders, 14-36 versus Bulldogs, 14-36 versus Storm
Dragons last three games: 19-12 versus Panthers, 6-32 versus Broncos, 36-0 versus Warriors
Betting: Titans $2.65, Dragons $1.48

Gold Coast Titans
1 Josh Hoffman, 2 David Mead, 3 James Roberts, 4 Nene Macdonald, 5 Kalifa Faifai Loa, 6 Daniel Mortimer, 7 Kane Elgey, 8 Luke Douglas, 9 Beau Falloon, 10 Nate Myles (c), 11 Agnatius Paasi, 12 David Taylor, 13 Lachlan Burr
14 Matthew White, 15 Eddy Pettybourne, 16 Nathaniel Peteru, 17 Kierran Moseley, 18 Brad Tighe

St George Illawarra Dragons
1 Josh Dugan, 2 Dylan Farrell, 3 Euan Aitken, 4 Peter Mata'utia, 5 Jason Nightingale, 6 Gareth Widdop, 7 Benji Marshall, 8 Leeson Ah Mau, 9 Mitch Rein, 10 Mike Cooper, 11 Tyson Frizell, 12 Joel Thompson, 13 Trent Merrin
14 Ben Creagh (c), 15 Mark Ioane, 16 Craig Garvey, 17 Jack de Belin, 18 Justin Hunt, 20 Etonia Nabuli, 25 George Rose
Things are getting worse for the Titans. (Digital Image by Robb Cox ©nrlphotos.com)
Roar Guru
30th August, 2015
133
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Match result:

Gold Coast Titans 28
St George Illawarra Dragons 26

The Dragons started off in style against the Titans with Mitch Rein opening the scoring three minutes into the game after darting out of dummy half. A penalty goal stretched the Dragons’ lead to eight points before Agnatius Paasi scored for the Titans just minutes after Kane Elgey was denied.

Mike Cooper went over soon after, with David Taylor following by barging through the line. Marshall put the Dragons’ in front by eight points at the break after going through the line. The Titans’ were lucky not to have a bigger deficit after Widdop missed a penalty goal from 50m out on the siren.

David Mead was seen soaring through the air before crashing back down to score early in the second half. He scored another soon after, with Mortimer kicking for the Papua New Guinean flyer to score on the sideline.

The Titans stole the lead but the Dragons’ soon regained after Widdop ran the length of the field to score. David Taylor put the Gold Coast back in front four minutes from full-time after scoring out of dummy-half. The Titans’ held onto their lead to win by two points.

>>MATCH REPORT: Titan Taylor batters sorry Dragons

Match preview:

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The Gold Coast Titans need a win to keep the wooden spoon at bay when they host the St George Illawarra Dragons, who are hungry for their first finals berth since Wayne Bennett left in 2011. Join The Roar from 3:50pm (AEST) for live coverage.

The Dragons held a convincing competition lead before slipping, and are now required to fend off top-eight contenders Canterbury, Melbourne and Manly – a tough challenge even considering their supposed ‘easy’ run home.

The Titans meanwhile are battling with the Tigers and Knights to avoid a second wooden spoon in their short history, with both teams hitting form.

The Dragons’ forwards remain the key to a top-eight spot, with Mike Cooper, Joel Thompson, Tyson Frizell and Trent Merrin delivering strong go-forward for the Red V. However they have their hands full against the Titans’ Nate Myles, Luke Douglas, David Taylor and Eddy Pettybourne.

2014 NYC Player of the Year Kane Elgey squares off against England five-eighth Gareth Widdop, and Elgey’s partner, Daniel Mortimer, will need to assist him in setting up plays for speedy outside backs James Roberts and David Mead.

Paul McGregor has made two changes to his side, with Joel Thompson moving in for the suspended Jake Marketo, while Jason Nightingale replaces Justin Hunt on the wing, with the former Eels and Rabbitohs player on a seven-man extended bench.

For the Titans, Greg Bird’s injury sees Daniel Mortimer move to five-eighth, Beau Falloon to hooker and Kierran Moseley come onto the bench. Lachlan Burr replaces the suspended Ryan James at lock, with Brad Tighe 18th man.

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The Titans and Dragons have played each other 14 times since the Gold Coast’s foundation in 2007, with the Dragons winning 10 and the Titans four matches. Their most recent encounter came in Round 24, 2014, when the Dragons defeated the Titans 34-6 at Jubilee Oval.

The eighth-placed Dragons are coming off a win over the Panthers. Before that they lost to the Broncos and kept the Warriors to nil.

The fifteenth-placed Titans last week defeated the Raiders in an attempt to stay off the bottom of the ladder. Prior to that, they had consecutive losses at the hands of the Bulldogs and Storm.

The Dragons will next week face the last-placed Wests Tigers (Sydney), whom will be wanting to stay away from the deep perils of the NRL table. The Titans meanwhile take on the third-placed North Queensland Cowboys (Townsville), who will be looking to secure a home final in their quest toward a maiden premiership.

Prediction
The Titans will put out the Dragons’ fire.

Titans by 4.

Join The Roar from 3:50pm (AEST) for score updates and debate in our live blog.

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