The Brisbane Broncos have held on despite a late Titans charge for an eight-point win over their South East Queensland rivals.
Brisbane drew first blood with James Roberts scoring against his old team after three minutes to go through the Titans’ line.
After end-to-end football, Ben Hunt went through the line to put the Broncos in front by ten points after 25 minutes.
Strong defensive efforts from both sides saw points scarce with the Titans getting on the board after 33 minutes after David Mead scored off an Ashley Taylor grubber with the former Bronco displaying a strong kicking game throughout the opening 40 minutes.
The Broncos went into half-time ahead by six points extending that lead after Jordan Kahu scored early in the second half.
Kodi Nikorima scored 15 minutes later with Brisbane going in front by three converted tries.
The Titans hit back with Zeb Taia scoring two tries in the space of four minutes as the Gold Coast looked to make a late comeback.
The Titans hunted for an extra try in the last ten minutes but were unable to score again with Jordan Kahu putting the result beyond doubt with a late penalty goal to give the Broncos a 24-16 win.
Corey Parker impressed in limited minutes while Matt Gillett was strong in an 80-minute performance while Ashley Taylor displayed a strong kicking game and drove the Titans with Ryan James and Agnatius Paasi both putting in good efforts up front.
The Titans will head down to Cronulla to take on the Sharks next Sunday while the Broncos will host the Dragons on Thursday night.
Final score
Gold Coast Titans 16
Brisbane Broncos 24
The Gold Coast Titans will be looking to prove themselves when they host premiership favourites the Brisbane Broncos at Cbus Super Stadium. Join The Roar from 8:05pm (AEDT) for live coverage.
The Titans are sitting equal first after being slated as preseason wooden-spoon favourites when Kane Elgey was sidelined for the year with an ACL injury.
Neil Henry’s side have shown their resilience to climb to a 3-1 win-loss record, with Ashley Taylor stepping up in his rookie season and leading the way.
Taylor could be made to do it on his own against the Broncos however, with halves partner Tyrone Roberts at long odds to return from a knee injury. Cameron Cullen is in line to make his first-grade debut against his junior club after being named as cover for Roberts on a six-man bench.
Gold Coast have dodged a bullet with Ryan James free to play after being found not guilty of dangerous contact on Jordan Rapan during the Titans’ brilliant 24-20 comeback win over the Raiders in the nation’s capital.
The Titans were fined $5000 for having a 14th player on the field during that match, after David Shillington was on the ground for five seconds following an interchange hiccup.
The Broncos are coming off an extra-time win over the North Queensland Cowboys, with Anthony Milford kicking a field goal to seal a 21-20 win in front of over 45,000 fans at Suncorp Stadium.
Brisbane will be strengthened by the return of Corey Oates, who injured his shoulder against the Warriors, while Jack Reed also returns.
Since the Titans joined the NRL in 2007, they have played the Broncos 19 times, with Brisbane winning 14.
The Broncos won both fixtures in 2015, with a 26-16 victory in Round 5 before shutting out the Titans 34-0 in Round 20.
Prediction
Brisbane will get a win and solidify their position as the NRL’s team to beat.
Broncos by 12.
Join The Roar from 8:05pm (AEDT) for score updates and debate in our live blog.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Titans got robbed by the refs
Big J
Guest
Yeah but that young Milford is the one to watch, and how could the Titans let James roberts go, oh well Brisbane up to thier old tricks again
Jackson Henry
Roar Guru
Better than last bloody week...at least one of his kicks found the grass ...
Big J
Guest
Not really the young five-eighth does all the work now, he was present but could of done more
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
Kicking game was a hundred times better than last week (not saying much though) and apart from the odd hospital ball to Gillett which I'm beginning to think may be some sort of bizarre set play his pass selection and playmaking was much better as well. Unfortunately he faded towards the pointy end but luckily for Brisbane the Titans faded in the final 5 or so minutes.
Kowalski
Guest
Missed the game. How did Hunt go? Any improvement yet.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Great game by the Titans. Really took it to Brisbane. Am really enjoying the way they're playing this year and Mead should stay at fullback meaning Zilman to centre and with Davies also to return I think Josh Hoffman might be in danger of the bench. Mortimer still guilty of the odd stupid mistake that completely stalls their momentum although he did have some nice touches.
Emcie
Roar Guru
The same way they missed the Greg birds knock on in the titans second try
E-Meter
Guest
How on earth do two refs miss that knock on by Milford about 5-6 minutes from the end. That was a bad bad miss, with the game on the line.
Aaron
Guest
Could have been better I think. I swear Ticketek is playing games with their system. And I don't know why they left such prime real estate at one of the ends closed (would have beaten the seats I got given).
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
It was good to see such a good crowd.
SpongeBob
Guest
Who's he up against? A bit hit & miss. To me he seems like Woods. Goes hard, that's also his weakness. Can shoot up too quick, get too occupied 'get squares' and give away ridiculous penalties.
Edward Kelly
Roar Guru
$$$ win again on a Friday with a grumpy coach, nothing unusual about that for the last few years. Time for one or two more Brisbane teams to share the third party agreements around.
SpongeBob
Guest
Not sure the media is giving them enough attention.
Muzz
Guest
No mate. Our winning streak will start once JWH, Pearce and Cords return. We will then go undefeated and be this years premiers.
Big J
Guest
As I have said, the titans are proving each game they are ones to watch
Jackson Henry
Roar Guru
What a lot of us on here have long suspected about him as a bloke. I suppose I can empathise to a degree...Id struggle having to talk to random people about boring bollocks over and over again simply because I'm a public figure. But still. Shades of Rudd about him, in that the people who rate him don't know him. Any way, I'm off to play The Division. Enjoy.
Big J
Guest
Very true Alfie still gets away with whatever he wants
Renegade
Roar Guru
Haha 9th immortal ? Yeah bit of a danger game and any loss wouldn't surprise during this early part of the season but they are tracking along nicely... still plenty of improvement left in the squad but so far more positives than negatives. My prediction was a grand final appearance before the season started and I'm sticking firm on that. What did the family member confirm? Keen to hear this one haha
Rob
Guest
Allready sent