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Once were Warriors, now NRL easy-beats


Headlined by a four-try effort from Alofiana Khan-Pereira, the Gold Coast Titans have re-written club history with a 66-6 thrashing of the NZ Warriors on Saturday afternoon at Cbus Super Stadium. 


Set up by a near flawless opening 40 minutes in which they equaled their biggest ever first-half points tally, made eight line breaks and completed all but two of their 24 sets, the Gold Coast ran in 11 tries all up to cruise past their previous biggest winning margin of 44-0.


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As well as the team record, Jayden Campbell broke Scott Prince's record of 20 for most points in a match with his 26-point haul that came from a try and 11 conversions from 11 attempts, while Khan-Pereira equaled Jordan Atkins' 2008 mark for tries in a single match.

 

By full-time the Gold Coast had made 12 line breaks to one and run for almost 800 metres more than their opponents, while the Warriors were woeful in almost all areas, coughing up 13 errors and missing 44 tackles. 


After engaging the Warriors in an arm wrestle they always had the upper hand in through the opening 15 minutes, the Titans got their reward by way of a try-scoring blitz which saw Khan-Pereira, Beau Fermor and Chris Randall cross in the space of 10 minutes. 


Gold Coast Titans NRL rugby league
The Gold Coast Titans ran in 11 tries against the hapless NZ Warriors. PHOTO: NRL

While none of them were pretty from a Warriors point of view, Randall's effort on 26 minutes was particularly telling, as he palmed off feeble tackle attempts from Jackson Ford and Jazz Tevaga to stroll over from close range. 


Keenan Palasia was next to go over, before Sam Verrills sliced through the middle with ease to make it 30-0, with the help of the perfect boot of Campbell.


After showing their ability on the other side of the ball with a prolonged goal-line stand to start the second half, Khan-Pereira picked off Shaun Johnson and bolted 90 metres down field for his second. 


With Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in the bin for a dangerous tackle on 54 minutes which also saw him go on report, the Titans piled on the misery with an even heavier hand. 



Keano Kini weaved through before Kieran Foran popped a lovely kick through for his halves partner Campbell to rack up one of his four try assists on the day. 


Te Maire Martin's four-pointer with 21 to play triggered a quick pause to the onslaught, but minutes later Khan-Pereira had his first career hat-trick, to become the outright leading try-scorer in 2024. 


Kini then skinned the Warriors on the outside and made light work of round Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad to mark a perfect 10 tries for his men, with Khan-Pereira's late strike a healthy spoonful of cream on top. 


Gold Coast Titans 66 (Alofi Khan-Pereira 4, Beau Fermor, Chris Randall, Keenan Palasia, Sam Verrills, Keano Kini 2, Jayden Campbell tries; Jayden Campbell 11 con) NZ Warriors 6 (Te Maire Martin try; Adam Pompey con). HT: 30-0

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