The New Zealand Warriors have overcome a brave 12-man Gold Coast Titans team to prevail 28-18 at Cbus Super Stadium on Friday.
In an entertaining 80 minutes in front of 20,877 fans at Robina, the contest was at a knife's edge in the final 15 minutes, before two late tries on the back of a Shaun Johnson masterclass helped the visitors to their 12th win of the season.
Here are the key talking points from the Round 23 match:
Courageous Coast show resilience to remain in fight
Having to play out the final 63 minutes with only 12 players due to the send off of Moeaki Fotuaika, the Titans fought back from being 18-6 down just after half-time to draw level with one of the competition frontrunners, before being run down at the death in an enthralling and entertaining 80 minutes.
Showing desperate defence for large chunks of the game with a man down forced the Warriors to concede 12 errors, with the home side holding a far superior completion rate.
Holding on right to the death, the overlap proved costly in the final moments as Tohu Harris crashed over for the Wahs to take the lead, and then Dallin Watene-Zelezniak confirmed the two points with the final four-pointer in the 75th minute.
Late Campbell switch pays dividends
Whilst it may have not gone quite to plan with AJ Brimson a last minute scratching in the warm-up, Jim Lenihan looks to have found the way for the two dynamos to start in the same 13... and boy, didn't Jayden Campbell prove it to be a winner.
Training at fullback all week in preparation for Brimson not being 100 percent, Campbell was given the keys to the No. 1 jersey by the interim Titans coach an hour before kick-off, and that was confirmed with the forced reshuffle, lighting it up out the back before again proving his versatility to play the final 10 minutes in the centres.
Starring with a 90-metre intercept to score the leveller, the 23-year-old finished with that try, a further try assist, seven tackle breaks and 234 run metres in another X-factor performance by the son of a gun.
Whilst it's unclear what the plan will be for the excitement machine past this week, many pundits have called for the switch to be permanent... including Fox League's Andrew Voss in commentary.
"If Jayden Campbell doesn't play 80 minutes a week, it's bringing the game in disrepute," he said.
Moe at mercy of NRL Judiciary
Moeaki Fotuaika will have a nervous wait overnight after being sent off for an accidental high shot on Charnze Nicoll-Klodstad in the 17th minute of Friday’s clash.
Moeaki Fotuaika sent off
Often described as one of the nicest men in rugby league off-the-field, the 23-year-old was marched for the first time in his career and will now be at mercy of the match review committee’s decision as to what penalty he will receive if any when the findings are released on Saturday.
Averaging 160 run metres and 32 tackles at 96 percent efficiency per match this season as one of the Titans’ best forwards, his reliable contribution up front was certainly missed – particularly in the second 40 with the Gold Coast missing their key middle.
Regardless of Fotuaika’s outcome, the Titans will welcome back skipper Tino Fa’asuamaleaui from his three-match suspension in next week’s trip to Cronulla.
