Effort worthy of a Titan
July 12th 2008 07:15
Unbelievable - Jordan Rapana grabbed a double to secure the most unlikely of victories
No one can give a reason for the Titan's performance last night.
Not even the Sydney Roosters could end what was arguably the most enthusiastic performance by a team witnessed this season.
Preston Campbell and Matt Rogers justified their status as true match winners, with each causing enough grief to put the poker tax scandal to shame.
For 70 minutes the Titans were on 'play' and the Roosters remained paused in a game that left most watching, gassed to say the least.
Many in the crowd started thinking and thinking fast. The Titans could do something special.
And they did. Against a side with a share of the competition lead. A side that won its past five games at Aussie Stadium. A side witnessing a rebirth in form and culture under Brad Fittler.
Not that the Titans cared, They put the brakes on a Roosters side guilty of slowing its own roll. Their defence non-existant.
The Titans, led by the performance of the decade by little Preston Campbell, were a menace. They popped up willingly in all the right areas despite the key identities they had on the sideline.
Mat Rogers made a mockery of the Roosters defence who were not mentally focused with the task on hand. He was a running massacre, strapped with a magnum that blew the opposition to shreads.
He was eagerly supported by hooker Nathan Friend who was immaculate in both defence and attack. The most improved hooker in the NRL no doubt.
If Friend wasn't wrapping the likes of Mason and Fitzgibbon, he was a scavenger falling on any opportunity that came his way. A real marksman of the NRL.
But what made the Titans performance so ecstatic was the way they embarked on their unlikely quest for victory as a team.
All 17 players knew their roles for a cause that many predicted would not occur. Their handicap prior to the game was huge, 16.5 start to be exact.
Brad Fittler's men were expected to remain calm as they brushed aside the injury depleted Titans. It never eventuated and the Gold Coast figured prominently to cause the stir of the decade.
While the Roosters were never alert to the ambush, the Titans welcomed the challenge and started breathing dirt that eventually left the chooks blind to what was coming.
Although they did regain some composure in a period that yielded three tries in ten minutes, the chooks were left hopeless to a ferocious dosage of skill and enthusiasim supplied by their opponents.
They were the culprits of their own insecurities which led to Fitzgibbon and his teammates feeling "bluffed". A chaotic culture still trying to find its feet.
The exclusive emotion however, of Titans coach John Cartwright was one of disbelief and gratitude. The desperation his side displayed last night, particularly near the climax, was heroic.
It was a display full of character and guts. A display that shows Cartwright being held in the highest of regards at the NRL's newest franchise.
Before we all clap the efforts of Campbell and his beloved Titans, the coach deserves the biggest round of applause for providing the steady influence in a side still well alive in this years race for a premiership.
As for the rest of the round, the Knights beat the Panthers in another upset. The desperate race to the finals has now officially begun.
If last night's game was anything to go by, expect an avalanche of points and upsets as the season winds itself down to just eight teams searching for glory.
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