Gold Coast 34 Brisbane 18
Manly 44 Newcastle 20
The Gold Coast Titans and the Manly Sea Eagles both issued strong statements to the rest of the NRL table last night.
Titans coach John Cartwright was delighted with his third-placed team's effort against the Broncos over 60 minutes but bemoaned their drop in intensity the final quarter of a predictable match.
"I thought the first 40 minutes was as good as we've put together all year," Cartwright said.
"There were some good tries scored, nothing flash about it, but we stuck to a pretty basic plan.
"The back 20 minutes was disappointing. We missed a lot of tackles and probably gave them some points they didn't deserve."
While not looking for any excuses for the late fade, Cartwright pointed to the second half loss of Harrison (ribs), Minichiello (knee) and hooker Nathan Friend (ankle).
With more than A$2 million of talent watching from the sideline, the Broncos lacked the experience to handle the big occasion but it could have been much worse.
"I was really pleased that we didn't throw the towel in," Henjak said.
"They (the Broncos) just kept plugging away even though some things were going against them.
"They tried to stay in the fight in the second half which was really positive.
"I thought some of those young blokes did really well in the second half."
Cartwright made special mention of the courageous Friend, who made 29 tackles before leaving the field with a bad limp after being in doubt all week.
"When it really counted he never showed any sign of pain or discomfort," the coach noted.
And Manly have maintained their perfect record at Gosford's Bluetongue Stadium with a come-from-behind 44-20 NRL victory over Newcastle.
The Sea Eagles overcame a 14-0 deficit with six tries in 21 minutes, going on to defeat the understrength Knights in front of 15,837 fans and make it four wins from four visits to NSW's Central Coast.
Newcastle, who lost skipper Kurt Gidley to a rib cartilage injury before kick-off, had prop Richard Fa'aoso to thank for their bright opening.
Fa'aoso started the scoring in the fourth minute before turning provider for fellow prop Mark Taufua in the eighth with a smart one-handed offload.
But after Scott Dureau's penalty stretched the lead beyond two converted tries the Sea Eagles launched a relentless comeback.
Tries to Ben Farrar, Tony Williams and teenager Kieran Foran, all in the final ten minutes of the first half, had them ahead 16-14 by the break.
And the rout continued when a speculative kick by Michael Robertson in the 45th minute sent Dureau and the ball crashing into the post, hooker Matt Ballin on the spot to fall on the loose ball for Manly.
Two more four-pointers to forwards George Rose and Anthony Watmough stretched the lead further before Gidley's replacement, Shannon McDonnell, got one back for the Knights in the 59th minute.
But giant winger Williams and Farrar then each scored their second tries to seal the Knights' fourth away defeat on the trot, and move the Sea Eagles in the top eight.
- AAP
