Key three: Foran fires against former side as Titans fall agonisingly short at home
The Titans have fallen short in another nail-biter at Cbus Super Stadium, going down to the Sea Eagles 34-30 in a see-sawing contest.
Led by Kieran Foran who was eager to continue his winning ways against his old club, it wasn't to be in Round 7 despite some moments of magic from the experienced playmaker, who played a hand in four of the Titans' five tries.
A crucial double from Alofiana Khan-Pereira got things going for the Gold Coast - all thanks to some Foran brilliance - but a two-try haul and class from Tom Trbojevic made the task tough for the Titans who will now travel to New Zealand next week still on the hunt for their first win of the season.
Match: Titans v Sea Eagles
Round 7 -
home Team
Titans
17th Position
away Team
Sea Eagles
5th Position
Venue: Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
Here are the key talking points from the match:
Breakthrough win close after another nail-biter
Rugby league is a cruel game.
Failing just short in golden-point against the Raiders, the Titans were close again back at home, going down to the Sea Eagles 34-30 in an enterprising game that saw the lead change hands seven times across the 80 minutes.
Whilst coming so close in the possession battle (51-49 percent), the Titans showed signs of improvement with a higher completion rate than Manly (75-72 percent), although the errors and penalties that came at crucial times hurt the home side again, which captain Kieran Foran identified post full-time on Fox League.
"We're certainly getting closer," he said.
"It's not like we played bad footy tonight but it just seems like that first win is getting harder and harder.
"We're making it pretty tough on ourselves at the moment with the amount of ball that we're coughing up."
Although yet to register a win in 2024, the outing was another step closer to getting their first victory with the match stats showing how tight the contest was against coach Des Hasler's old club.
Foran rises against former club... again
He may be a Manly champion, but the 287-game veteran loves to turn it on against the team he spent nine seasons a part of.
Despite being on the wrong side of the scoreline, the 33-year-old had his fingertips over three try involvements in the first half, including an incredible banana kick to help AJ Brimson pickpocket Tom Trbojevic for the Titans' third four-pointer of the evening, his leadership against the Sea Eagles was welcomed by his current teammates.
Halves combine
He added a further try assist to his name in the second half by helping his halves partner Tanah Boyd over the line, but his heroics couldn't be replicated to ice the winning play, with his former side getting one back on the veteran who got the chocolates in his first outing against Manly at 4 Pines Park in 2023.
Khan-Pereira enroute to breaking '23 feat
Death, taxes and Alofiana Khan-Pereira scoring tries.
After breaking the Titans try-scoring record by crossing the line 20 times in his debut season last year, the fast flyer is not shying away from raising the bar in 2024.
Fresh off scoring a double against the Raiders last week, the 22-year-old winger made a confident statement against Manly, scoring the first two tries for the Titans - crucial four-pointers to help his side hit back against the opposition who put on 10 points in as many minutes to start proceedings.
Double trouble from AKP
Connecting with Gold Coast skipper Kieran Foran both times to notch up his eighth career double and have 25 tries to his name in just 28 games, Khan-Pereira comfortably remains on top of the Titans' top try-scoring list with five.
In the pre-season, the young gun declared he wanted to score more in his second season for the Titans and he is well on his way to doing that.
