Young talent time helps Raiders rise against Titans
Joel Gould |
Canberra’s wrecking-ball second-rower Hudson Young has scored his third try-double in a row to sink a brave Gold Coast in a stunning 30-20 comeback win.
Young, with seven tries this season, is in sensational form. From a standing start his barnstorming charge in the second half for a try turned the game when it was in the balance.
The 26-year-old was a clear player of the match on Sunday to take his side to third on the NRL ladder after becoming the first forward since the great Manly back-rower Steve Menzies to score three try-doubles in a row.
“I’m his biggest fan,” Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said.
Young, who played Game One for NSW in last year’s State of Origin series, has put himself right in the frame for a Blues recall after he was left out of the final two matches of last year’s series.
It was a strange game at Robina in the warm Gold Coast sun, as so many are.
The injury-riddled Titans led 16-0 after 21 minutes, but the lead had been erased by halftime. At 16-16 it was up for grabs.
The hosts were without half Jayden Campbell (ankle) and second-rower David Fifita (hamstring), on top of long-term injuries to veteran playmaker Kieran Foran (biceps) and fullback Keano Kini (neck).
“Dave’s initial diagnosis was a month,” Titans coach Des Hasler said.
“We had a bit of good news on JC, so we don’t think he’ll need an operation on his syndesmosis. But he’s still four or five weeks.”
Gold Coast started on fire with a neat left-foot grubber kick by No.6 AJ Brimson for second-rower Beau Fermor to score in the fourth minute.
Fill-in half Tom Weaver’s kicking game was superb early. His bomb was snaffled by winger Jojo Fifita and it was 10-0 in the 10th minute.
Brimson was at it again with a brilliant left-foot dink over the Raiders’ defensive line and racing through to collect it in a sensational piece of instinctive flair.
Canberra winger Savelio Tavale, who had one of his best games, opened the scoring for the visitors after masterful ball-playing by prop Corey Horsburgh, who wrapped into the backline like an extra half to ignite the movement.
England import Morgan Smithies came off the bench to deliver a pearler of a pass for Young to score his sixth try of the season.
Five-eighth Ethan Strange, 20, ran like a runaway train to slice through the teeth of the Titans’ defence and level the scores on the cusp of halftime.
Raiders centre Sebastian Kris latched on to a Jamal Fogarty bomb, before 26-year-old Titans winger Allan Fitzgibbon, who also had a great match, scored his first NRL try in the corner.
At that stage the Raiders led by two points, but Young sealed the deal with a typically wholehearted effort. From 10m out he decided to win the game for his side and carried three Titans defenders with him.
“We were our own worst enemy for the first 25 minutes, but I wasn’t panicking,” Stuart said.
“As soon as we gained field position at the end of the first half we took advantage of it, and that is probably what won it for us.”
The Titans, after three losses in a row, are in the midst of an injury crisis that has stalled their season.
“There’s a real fix in our game that we need to address quickly. We got away to a start … but there is just this presence of real negative play,” Hasler said.
AAP
