- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The New Zealand Warriors have missed a chance to nail down an NRL finals spot as Gold Coast ran away 36-12 winners at home.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Gold Coast Titans 36
New Zealand Warriors 12
The New Zealand Warriors will be aiming to move one step closer to the finals when they travel to play the struggling Gold Coast Titans in Round 20. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 2pm (AEST).
It feels like an eternity ago when the Warriors took this year’s competition by storm, proving all the doubters wrong to sit in the top four during the first half of the season.
Since then, their old demons of fitness and inconsistency have sprung up, signing them to the bottom half of the eight – so much so that their finals hopes are now in the balance.
They do have a four-point advantage and are being aided strongly by a shocking loss for the Wests Tigers on Friday night at the hands of the Catnerbury Bulldogs, but a loss today will keep the race for the eight alive with a month of footy to go in the regular season.
The Warriors built their run at the start of the season on the back of their forwards, who were defending up and in, using intensity in their line speed to ensure they wouldn’t concede too many points. With that being the backbone of their game, the attack, led by superstars Shaun Johnson and Roger Tuivasa-Scheck was able to thrive.
Since those first eight weeks, their defence has fallen apart and left them freefalling through the eight which continued last week with a 12-6 loss at home to the Melbourne Storm.
While the Warriors haven’t been perfect, the Titans have been at the other end of the spectrum with only a brief two-week run following the representative round sparking their finals hopes for a moment.
They are dashed now, and the Titans would love to grab a win in the next few weeks to ensure they won’t finish 2018 with the dreaded wooden spoon.
Last week’s loss to the Newcastle Knights, where they let in 30 points and struggled to match it offensively at times continued a shocking trend though, with a loss to the undermanned Sydney Roosters at home the week before.
Those games indicate, especially in defence, that the Titans have all but clocked off for 2018 and if that continues today, the Warriors could run riot on a ground where they have won their last seven in this head-to-head.
Prediction
While the Warriors have been up and down, you’d think, with so much on the line and up against a struggling Titans, today should be one of those up days.
Warriors by 14.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this Round 20 clash from 2pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.