The Titans’ playoff chances have become much more difficult for the scorching Cronulla Sharks, who defeated them 44-0 at Cbus Super Stadium on Friday night.
In front of 13,287 spectators, the visitors led from beginning to end. They put on a comprehensive display, silencing their detractors to maintain their aspirations of finishing in the top four, despite several injuries, including to their starting half-duo.
In the last month of the 2024 season, it makes Gold Coast’s quest for the finals incredibly difficult, but if they win their final four games and luck out, it’s still theoretically feasible.
The Titans may be missing Moe Fotuaika, who was benched for ten minutes for heavy contact in the eighteenth minute, as they prepare to take on the Dragons in a crucial game that will mark Kieran Foran’s 300th NRL appearance.
While the key statistics were closer than the final score, Cronulla’s effort areas and enthusiasm were far superior than the home side, which showed with the 46-0 scoreline. The Sharks came into Robina as the underdogs, but they didn’t show it with a complete performance in the pivotal match for both teams. Wanting to exact revenge for their Round 18 loss to the Titans, they rolled through the middle to dominate the first half of the contest, shell-shocking the home side and making it all too difficult to recover from.
With 220 running metres and 31 tackles, Cronulla forward Jack Williams put on an incredible display that set the stage for their pack, which dominated in the middle with an average set distance of 44 metres – 10 more than the Titans.
While the team statistics indicate a closer match than the final score suggests, Cronulla easily prevailed on Friday night in the effort areas category, which is not quantified.
Finals are now challenging, but still doable
The Titans’ hopes of making the playoffs have been severely hampered by the crushing loss, but there is still hope for the team in the remaining four games.
If the team hopes to play past the first week of September, they must win their upcoming games against the Dragons, Roosters, Knights, and Panthers.
With the 34-0 loss damaging their current differential, they’ll also need to accumulate as many for-and-again points as they can, and they’ll have to rely on other top eight competitors like the Sea Eagles and Dragons to lose games in order to advance.
In light of the situation, the Titans’ matchup with the Red V in Wollongong is crucial; they must win and win decisively to maintain the very dim glimmer.
Fotuaika will await his destiny
Moeaki Fotuaika, who was sin-binned for a high tackle in the eighteenth minute, will now wait to hear from the match review committee.
After unintentionally stepping on Sharks No. 9 Cameron McInnes, Fotuaika was marched by The Bunker. The Bunker’s intervention proved expensive as he lost two tries during his ten-minute time on the sidelines.
