Gold Coast Titans vs New Zealand Warriors highlights: Hayne returns, Warriors win

Match Results Jarryd Hayne was individually successful in his return to the NRL, but he couldn't stop the Gold Coast Titans suffering a ten point loss to the efficient New Zealand Warriors at CBus Super Stadium. Over 25,000 fans packed in on the Gold Coast to watch one of the game's biggest superstars but a vast majority would leave disappointed in the result - although certainly not the Titans effort which was fantastic. When you consider the Titans had a six day turnaround after a brutal 90-minute encounter against the Cronulla Sharks last week, it was quality for them to stay in the fight like they did. Hayne didn’t come into the game until the 28th minute, but he has made an immediate impact with a try saving tackle that many players wouldn’t have been able to make and then almost setting up a try with a jumping effort to field a kick. His effort and output only increased in the second half as he had a number of close calls in attack, and some brilliant moments in defence. Hayne will only improve from here and undoubtedly he could be an x-factor player moving forward for the Titans. The Warriors were very good today though. They started the game shakily and despite their forwards being on top, although not dominant as the case was for most of the game. Ben Matulino had a massive impact off the bench, and along with their starting second row combination - the experienced duo of Ryan Hoffman and Simon Mannering they managed to out-muscle the Titans. That led to Shaun Johnson playing an absolutely fantastic game, and with Tuimoala Lolohea chipping in it meant their outside backs could have their way at times, and enough of the game to take the victory. Konrad Hurrell was particularly good on the flanks, running for a huge amount of metres and looking dangerous every time he went near the ball. Hayne seemed to carry the Titans the more the game went on, and some will say he overplayed his hand, particularly when you consider the form of Ashely Taylor coming into the contest who had a particularly quiet game. The Titans forwards as mentioned were not dominated, they just weren't the better of the two sides and Greg Bird in particular had a huge game. An error in the first set looked like it was going to set the scene, but New Zealand would manage to get on the board first with a try for the flying David Fusitu’a in the corner. Shaun Johnson and Lolohea worked it to the edge, got Fusitu’a in space and he scored in a fantastic effort, diving for the corner. With a missed conversion, Ryan James would get the Titans in front, barging over next to the goal posts. Bodene Thompson would then score for the Warriors off a wonderful wrap around play involving interchange hooker Nathaniel Roache, with Thompson barrelling through a few defenders and the bunker failing to find any evidence which would overrule the try. The Gold Coast would ensure the match went to halftime all squared up though as Ashley Taylor summed up a play fantastically, threw a pass and then an offload on would see Konrad Hurrell score against his old club in the corner. The second half seemed to see the Warriors take more of a controlling aspect of the game as the influence of Hayne increased. The Titans would run on three tries before the Titans could answer, effectively ending the game as a contest with Hayne and Taylor, the men playing as halves throughout the back end of the game each making crucial mistakes. Simon Mannering would be the first to score in the second half with a barge over effort, before Solomone Kata would score a double. Kata's first try came from a Hayne pass out the back that was intercepted by Fusitu'a, who would nearly run the length of the field. With the Titans defence in pieces it was easy for Kata to cross off a Johnson pass. From there, Taylor would make a similar mistake and Kata ran the length of the field, putting a massive fend on Anthony Don. The Titans would score what proved to be a consolationtry try through Don, but it was all too little too late. In the end then, the Warriors move into seventh and will be feeling confident about their chances of making the top eight with three of their final four games at home. Final Score Gold Coast Titans 14 New Zealand Warriors 24

Full report to come shortly. Thanks for joining me this afternoon on The Roar for our live coverage of the 2016 NRL season as Jarryd Hayne made his return and the Gold Coast Titans went down to the New Zealand Warriors by 10. Hopefully you enjoyed the coverage. The fun doesn't stop here either because Johnathan Thurston is back for the North Queensland Cowboys as they take on the Wests Tigers at Leichardt - Switch over to that one now - http://www.theroar.com.au/2016/08/07/wests-tigers-vs-north-queensland-cowboys-nrl-live-scores-blog-2/ Be sure to keep an eye out for plenty of Olympics, Rugby League, cricket, AFL and much more on The Roar. I've been at it since 3:15am this morning so that'll do me. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

The Roar's NRL MVP 3 - Shaun Johnson 2 - Jarryd Hayne 1 - Solomone Kata

STATS Tries: Titans (3), Warriors (5) Goals: Titans (1/3), Warriors (2/5) Possession: Titans (50%), Warriors (50%) Completions: Titans (24/33), Warriors (27/35) All runs: Titans (169), Warriors (162) All run metres: Titans (1409), Warriors (1552) Line breaks: Titans (2), Warriors (5) Offloads: Titans (6), Warriors (4) Tackles: Titans (284), Warriors (319) Missed tackles: Titans (33), Warriors (17) Penalties: Titans (4), Warriors (3) Errors: Titans (11), Warriors (9)