The NRL’s first ever Magic Round gets underway at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium this Thursday when the Gold Coast meets Cronulla. The Sharks haven’t won at this venue since they beat Brisbane there in 2014, but they’ve already dealt with the Titans once this season courtesy of Round 2’s 20-6 win in the shire. Looking back further into matches between Cronulla and the Gold Coast unearths a somewhat surprising set of results. Of the last ten times these teams have played, Cronulla have won four, the Gold Coast five and there’s been one draw, an 18-18 deadlock in 2016. Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Reddit Email Share It’s hard to pinpoint a reason why, but when these two get together they tend to put on a tight contest that’s in the balance at the death. The average winning margin from these last ten games is less than a converted try (just 5.5 points), and this average margin is blown out by a 20-point win to the Titans in 2017. Take that out and the average winning margin is a tiny 3.5 points. There’s also very little difference between the two sides this year in the key statistics. They’re all but even in completion rates (Titans 74 per cent vs Sharks 73 per cent), penalties conceded per game (eight vs seven), errors per game (11 vs 12), average offloads (10 vs 12), average linebreaks (three vs four), kicking and running metres, tackles – you name it. So it needs to be asked: if they’re so evenly matched on so much of the data, how is it that Cronulla have two more wins and a points differential 50 points better than the Titans? The answer is in the defence. The Titans sit sixth worst in the NRL with 33 missed tackles each week. Cronulla miss 27. For context, the league’s best is Manly, who miss only 24 tackles per game. Cronulla fight and grind in defence and are conceding 19 points per game. The Titans let their opponent in for 24 points each week. Gold Coast also miss tackles in bad spots on the field, which allows their opposition to score and is a big contributor to their NRL-worst 191 points conceded. There’s also a question of application. The Titans have been in competitive positions in games against Wests Tigers, South Sydney and North Queensland but have either lacked the killer punch or dropped away in defence after making a positive start. Advertisement Advertisement So the Gold Coast look like they’re once again rolling through a season of underachievement and frustration. Coach Garth Brennan is under pressure for his club’s 2-6 record, the game-day management of his squad (particularly his use of young gun AJ Brimson) and the general underperformance of a team littered with quality players. Brimson has been named at five-eighth alongside Ash Taylor, with Taylor’s regular halves partner and captain Tyrone Roberts ruled out after running out of time to recover from a concussion received against the Cowboys. Twenty-year-old fullback Jesse Arthars is also in the squad for his first-grade debut. Gold Coast have missed the on-field leadership of Ryan James and Nathan Peats, who are both out with long-term injuries, but with the talent on the roster there’s really no excuses for sitting 14th on the table. The Titans haven’t won away from their home ground this year from five attempts and there’s a chance tonight to right that wrong. Are the Sharks in form? It’s a tough question to answer. They’ve had to scrap, no doubt. Cronulla turned away Melbourne 20-18 last week in a result that shocked everyone, especially after the Storm took the lead early on. It was a magnificent effort by an undermanned, young side. Cronulla’s try scorers last Friday were Braden Hamlin-Uele, Briton Nikora and Sione Katoa, who between them have played 29 first-grade games. It was a rousing win, but it came off an abject performance against the struggling Broncos at this same venue the previous week. Advertisement Advertisement The Sharks have had bad injury fortunes with Paul Gallen, Aaron Woods, Shaun Johnson, Matt Moylan, Andrew Fifita, Josh Dugan and others either missing time or playing through injury. Coach John Morris should be commended for his ability to get his side to a 4-4 record and seventh spot on the table despite the impact on their elite players. Prediction It’s an interesting match selection to kick off the regular season’s feature event, but when you think about it, having two teams with a recent history of tight finishes could be a good Thursday ‘settler’ for the rugby league avalanche to come. There’s plenty riding on the outcome for both teams, but the Titans have the most to lose. If they can’t play to their potential against a wounded yet dangerous opponent, they’ll get beaten soundly, but their talent should be able to get the job done tonight. Gold Coast by a field goal. Teams Advertisement Advertisement Titans 1. Michael Gordon, 2. Anthony Don, 3. Tyrone Peachey, 4. Brian Kelly, 5. Dale Copley, 6. Alexander Brimson, 7. Ash Taylor, 8. Jarrod Wallace, 9. Mitch Rein, 10. Shannon Boyd, 11. Kevin Proctor, 12. Bryce Cartwright, 13. Jai Arrow. Interchange: 14. Jesse Arthars, 15. Moeaki Fotuaika, 16. Keegan Hipgrave, 17. Max King, 18. Jack Stockwell, 19. Jai Whitbread Sharks 1. Josh Dugan, 2. Sosaia Feki, 3. Bronson Xerri, 4. Josh Morris, 5. Aaron Gray, 6. Kyle Flanagan, 7. Chad Townsend, 8. Andrew Fifita, 9. Jayden Brailey, 10. Matt Prior, 11. Briton Nikora, 12. Kurt Capewell, 13. Paul Gallen Interchange: 14. Blayke Brailey, 15. Jayson Bukuya, 16. Jack Williams, 17. Braden Hamlin-uele, 18. Scott Sorensen, 19. Sione Katoa<doc-sep>Gold Coast Titans coach Garth Brennan has questioned the attitude of his side, labelling them “dumb” and “poor” in wake of their defeat to Cronulla. The Titans led 18-10 at one point, before collapsing in the last 20 minutes to hand the Sharks victory. And that left Brennan fuming. Live stream the 2019 NRL Telstra Premiership on KAYO SPORTS. Every game of every round live & anytime on your TV or favourite device. Get your 14 day free trial > “Dumb,” is how he described his side’s play, before saying: “It’s guys kicking the ball on play four. Penalties. Discipline was poor. That second half was poor. “Our discipline was poor. Our one on missed tackles was poor. Some guys probably missed more than they made. We’ve got to be better in that, defence is attitude. “We were just dumb.” Asked if he was frustrated by the performance, Brennan added: “We are mentally soft. We are not a resilient football side at the moment. “I can see them trying and it’s just when the pressure comes we resort to dumb things. We’re looking for the quick fix. “We’re mentally soft, we’re not a soft football team. We look for quick fixes instead of getting in the grind. “Players have got to take accountability, there’s some talent in that football team but some players aren’t dishing up what they’re capable of doing.” RAGING: The day Politis was left furious with Freddy EXCLUSIVE: Desperate Dogs axe THREE players, another star in doubt BIG PICTURE: The Storm stars on notice after all-time Bellamy spray<doc-sep>The Cronulla Sharks kicked off the NRL’s Magic Round with a gallant victory over the Gold Coast Titans despite losing Andrew Fifita in the early going. It was a game that went right down to the wire with captain Paul Gallen driving in the final nail with a try in the last minute to seal the 26-18 victory. But the knives were well and truly out for Titans star player Tyrone Peachey who had a final 10 minutes he’d rather forget. A tackle from Peachey brought down halfback Chad Townsend, but the centre continued on with the challenge and gave away the foul. With the scores tied at 18-all, Kyle Flanagan opted to take the shot at goal and nailed the attempt to hand the Sharks the lead with around five minutes to play. Fans were quick to slam New South Wales Origin player for giving away the “dumb” penalty at the worst time. That was pretty dumb by Peachey. Good tackle to bring Townsend down but why carry on with it. Gifted two points to the sharks. #NRLTitansSharks #NRLMagicRound — Ed Jackson (@edjacko) May 9, 2019 Peachey’s night then went from bad to worse on the Titans’ next set of six when he attempted to kick through the Sharks line but angled the kick horribly and saw it roll out of bounds and back into Cronulla’s hands. From there the Sharks chewed up the clock before Paul Gallen sealed the result with a try next to the post. In what could possibly be Gallen’s final game at Suncorp Stadium he made the most of it by scoring a try and finishing it off with the conversion. He had some fun following the try as he stood on the field and held a finger up to his lips to silence the crowd. The Sharks were hit hard early when star prop Andrew Fifita limped from the field after suffering from a hamstring strain. It adds to an evergrowing injury list for the Sharks which contains Wade Graham (knee), Shaun Johnson (hamstring), Aaron Woods (foot) and Matt Moylan (hamstring). But the loss wasn’t enough to keep the Sharks down who kicked off Magic Round with a win that pushes them into the top eight.<doc-sep>
Tyrone Peachey after making his kick which all but handed the game to Cronulla Tyrone Peachey had a night to forget at Suncorp, making three silly decisions as the Gold Coast Titans surrendered to the Cronulla Sharks. And with Origin selction on the horizon, he could have blown not just his side’s chance for two points, but also his opportunity to reclaim a Blues jersey. The Titans had raced into an eight-point lead when Cronulla began to work their way back into the game. Eventually the Sharks were back in contention at 18-18 - and then Peachey, who played all three games for the Blues last year, gave away a penalty. Live stream the 2019 NRL Telstra Premiership on KAYO SPORTS. Every game of every round live & anytime on your TV or favourite device. Get your 14 day free trial > He gave a light slap to Kyle Flanagan on the ground after making a tackle. Flanagan knocked the penalty over to give the Sharks a lead. Still with three minutes remaining, the Titans made a break on the fourth tackle. Instead of keeping the ball alive, Peachey stuck a wild grubber through a gap. It went over the sideline, along with the Titans’ hopes of claiming a win. Then with one minute remaining Peachey gave away another dumb penalty which allowed the Sharks to go down the other end. Paul Gallen then barged his way and rubbed salt into the Titans’s wounds with a goal to boot. RAGING: The day Politis was left furious with Freddy EXCLUSIVE: Desperate Dogs axe THREE players, another star in doubt BIG PICTURE: The Storm stars on notice after all-time Bellamy spray