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The Brisbane Broncos have recorded a thumping win over their fellow Queensladers, the Gold Coast Titans, with ten tries – seven in the second half – leading to a 54-0 victory.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Gold Coast Titans 0
Brisbane Broncos 54
The Gold Coast Titans have nothing left to play for, but could put a dent in the top four aspirations of the Brisbane Broncos when the sides meet in the south east Queensland derby. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 5:30pm (AEST).
To do that though, the Titans will have to overcome history. They have won just five of 22 games against the Broncos since their inception.
The Titans come into this game on the back of a loss to the Wests Tigers which ended their charge at the finals. It’s been an inconsistent season marred by injury, but last weekend’s loss just about summed it up.
They have battled hard at times, but lacked the killer instinct to put teams away. Ashley Taylor is the next big thing, but has struggled to play well week in and week out on the back of a pack who have been rolled more often than not.
Errors as well have been a sticking point for the Titans. Despite beating the Sharks with good ball handling in atrocious conditions just a few weeks ago, they completed at just 59 per cent against the Tigers, which led to 46 per cent possession.
Further to that they had 27 missed tackles and apart from a few moments, they always looked like a team who would be soundly beaten.
While the scoreline of that game ended 26-4, making the same mistakes against their M1 rivals will lead to a cricket score.
Brisbane might be without Andrew McCullough, who will miss the rest of the season, but this is a side in strong form. While McCullough being out dents their premiership aspirations, their creatives are still doing well and their pack should be strong enough.
Defence will be the issue with McCullough out, the hooker averaging 48 tackles a game at 95 per cent efficiency for the season. Making up that workload is a problem, especially with half Ben Hunt slotting in at hooker, but it may not matter against a Titans side who are struggling to hold the ball and get to the end of their sets.
Their attack has been strong enough. Hunt, Anthony Milford and Benji Marshall off the bench have all been strong, while Kodi Nikorima will get another chance in the starting side.
They do come into this game off a disappointing 28-14 loss to the Eels though, but they were simply outplayed. Having six less opportunities with the ball certainly didn’t help, nor did some sloppy errors, but it hasn’t been a consistent problem for Brisbane throughout the year.
Coming into this match, the Broncos sit fourth on the ladder, and will need to win to stay there with the Eels and Cowboys snapping at their heels.
Prediction
The Broncos have the wood over the Titans and in this instance, a lot more to play for. They will win convincingly even without McCullough.
Broncos by 14.
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