Titans surge past Broncos to keep finals hopes alive

The Gold Coast Titans have produced a stunning second-half blitz to keep their finals chances alive and leave the Broncos fighting for survival. 

Gold Coast winger Jojo Fifita crossed for his first career hat-trick as the side turned an 18-10 half-time deficit into a convincing 46-18 win over Brisbane. 

The result sees Gold Coast rise to 11th on the ladder, while the Broncos have now slumped to 14th and are in grave danger of missing the finals 12 months after last year's grand final defeat. 

Kevin Walters side has now lost eight of their past nine matches and need a stunning form reversal to make the top eight.

The match came at a cost for Brisbane, with prop Payne Haas lasting just 10 minutes before leaving the field with a potentially serious foot injury and five-eighth Ezra Mam suffering an ankle injury that saw him miss the entire second half. 

It was a far more positive afternoon for the Titans, with Fifita enjoying the game of his life. The winger crossed for three tries, had three try assists, three line breaks and ran for 141 metres 

Brisbane fullback Reece Walsh opened the scoring with a piece of individual brilliance, slicing through the Gold Coast line before grubbering ahead and winning the race to the ball.

The 22-year-old was at it again just four minutes later, this time putting a bomb up and outjumping Titans fullback Keano Kini to make it 12-0.

Playing in front of a sold-out crowd of 25,278 at Cbus Super Stadium, the Titans weren't going to roll over and Kini had a dose of redemption when he finished off a Fifita break to cut the deficit to eight. 

The duo combined again later in the half, this time Kini sliding through before linking up with his winger to score.

Brisbane had the final say in the half, Kobe Hetherington scoring his first try in nearly three years before Kini was sent to the sin bin for tackling Ezra Mam without the ball while chasing a kick.

The Broncos five-eighth would play no further part in the match after injuring his ankle in the tackle.

Brisbane failed to take advantage of the extra man and Kini instantly made amends upon his return with a superb pick up to score in the corner.

Gold Coast were in front for the first time in the match just moments later, Kieran Foran running the ball on the last tackle to create a break that was ultimately finished off by Brian Kelly. 

Fifita's second made it 26-18 before the Broncos came charging back in a desperate bid to keep their finals hopes alive. While they came close, untimely errors cruelled their chances of cutting the gap.

Having withstood the Brisbane onslaught, Alofiana Khan-Pereira put the game beyond doubt with a long-range effort before the Titans added a further three tries in the final seven minutes to secure a memorable victory.