Taylor shines as Titans stun big brother Broncos
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The Titans have sent the Broncos' season into a dire spiral with an Ash Taylor masterclass inspiring a dominant 30-12 win at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
The Broncos were booed off at half-time by a crowd of 6262 when they trailed 22-0 after being ambushed by the Gold Coast. Former Brisbane captain Justin Hodges was in a state of shock as he crossed to the Fox Sports studios.
"This is the first time I have ever heard a Brisbane Bronco side booed off at half-time," Hodges said.
It was the Titans' biggest winning margin over the Broncos in their history and now Anthony Seibold's team faces the dire prospect of being in last place at the end of round seven if the Bulldogs beat Wests Tigers on Sunday.
To compound Brisbane's woes Matt Lodge hobbled off in the 65th clutching his left knee. Coach Anthony Seibold said after the game it was likely Lodge had suffered meniscus damage but was hopefil it was "nothing too serious".
Taylor owned the first half with his kicking game on song. He had plenty of mates with Jai Arrow, Sam Lisone, Moeaki Fotuaika and Keegan Hipgrave at their destructive best.
Match: Broncos v Titans
Round 7 -
home Team
Broncos
15th Position
away Team
Titans
13th Position
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
The Titans were hungrier from the kick-off and it showed.
Corey Oates, who had a first-half shocker, was tackled into touch before offloading and from the ensuing scrum the Titans made the Broncos pay with Taylor diving over from close range.
Titans back-rower Hipgrave had a powerhouse start to the game and a smart one. In one five-minute stanza Hipgrave jolted the ball out of Oates' grasp with a cruncher. He then won a penalty with a quick play the ball and the Titans surged into Broncos territory.
Don picks off a Niu pass for his second
Hipgrave then tipped on a pass like a classy outside back for veteran winger Anthony Don to show all his experience to score in the corner.
Taylor's kicking game was causing all sorts of problems for the Broncos back three and a towering bomb was spilled by Tesi Niu. Tyrone Peachey swooped and found a rampaging Lisone to score under the sticks and make it 16-0.
Fotuaika was sin-binned three minutes from half-time but the Titans rallied with powerhouse defence to repel the Broncos.
The last play of the half was a nightmare for fullback Niu who spotted an overlap on the left. His pass for Oates found Don instead who ran 60 metres to score untouched and give the Titans a stunning 22-nil lead.
The Broncos needed something special to start the second half and after four sets of six it took veteran Ben Te'o to provide it when he barged over from close range with late feet.
Taylor landed a penalty to give the Titans a 24-6 lead but the Gold Coast allowed Brisbane back into the game with silly penalties.
After more back-to-back sets Brodie Croft grubbered for Herbie Farnworth to score and the Broncos had a glimmer of hope.
Farnworth wins the race
It was soon snuffed out by Titans hunger and Brisbane ineptitude.
Croft kicked out on the full after points and the Titans, courtesy of Taylor, made them pay again with a penalty goal minutes later.
Taylor iced the win with a brilliant cut-out pass for Sami to score a winger's special and punish surely one of the worst Broncos sides in their 32-year history.
Titans coach Justin Holbrook was delighted with the enterprise and fight of his side with Taylor capitalising on the side's overall dominance against his former club.
"I thought we were really conservative last week but I really like the way we asked questions with the footy tonight and defended great," Holbrook said.
"The second half was scrappy but overall I was really happy with the performance.
"I thought [Taylor] was great and he needed to be."
Arrow was heavily involved against his old club and made 120 metres from 17 tough runs along with 25 tackles.
"I have this one on my calendar being my ex-club and you always want to give that extra effort, not that I don't give 100 per cent every week," Arrow said.
"It is a massive credit to the boys in the change rooms. We'd spoken about moving the footy and I thought we moved their big, athletic boys around.
"I felt with our line speed in the first-half that they were going nowhere.
"[Taylor] is a confidence player and I thought he played with confidence. His kicking game and control of his game built pressure. When Ash does that he is at his best. I thought he was tremendous and hopefully he can continue that next week."
