Gold Coast Titans 14
His marker scored a hat-trick of tries but Manu Vatuvei's return to the National Rugby League (NRL) was still a memorable experience for the New Zealand Warriors as they moved inside the top eight with an enterprising 34-14 defeat of the Gold Coast Titans today.
David Mead marred Vatuvei's return from a knee injury but the speedster's second career treble could not compensate for an error-ridden performance from his Titans teammates -- and a free-wheeling display by a Warriors side relishing a firm surface here at Skilled Park.
A six tries-to-three thrashing was comfortably their most compelling performance of the season and sets them up nicely for the second leg of their road trip, a 10th round match against Newcastle next Sunday.
Having four players backing up from last Friday's Anzac test at the same venue was no impediment as Lewis Brown, Simon Mannering, Ben Matulino and Lance Hohaia each made strong contributions although Vatuvei's comeback was always going to overshadow their double shift.
Vatuvei played only 14 minutes of the season opener against the Eels in Auckland on March 12 before Etu Uaisele's infamous head-first tackle.
And just 2min into his comeback Vatuvei showed what the Warriors had been missing for the previous seven rounds when he exposed the Titans' frailties under the high ball for the first time.
His leap to contest a Brett Seymour bomb was sufficient for David Mead to lose control of the ball, Feleti Mateo swooped and transferred to Brown who crabbed his way to the line.
Mead soon atoned for his defensive lapse, and embarrassed Vatuvei down the right flank, for the first of three occasions when he beat the big wing to the corner in the 10th minute.
Five minutes later the Kiwis star was on his knees, head in hands over the sideline when Mead took a wide Preston Campbell pass and evaded Vatuvei again to put the Titans up 8-6.
State of Origin hopeful Ashley Harrison spilled Krisnan Inu's restart and from the resulting possession Maloney, Kevin Locke and Brown probed the left edge for a clearly subdued Vatuvei to power over.
Preston Campbell then joined the Titans butter-fingered brigade in the 24th minute when Seymour's bomb bounced back into Maloney's hands before Mannering touched down near the goalposts.
The Titans struggled to make headway in the second quarter and when a rare break from William Zillman was thwarted by the five-eighth's forward pass the Warriors swept downfield to terrorise Campbell again.
This time a Mateo high kick had Campbell grabbing at thin air, the ball bounced favourably and an alert Elijah Taylor crossed after referee Jared Maxwell ruled the second rower had not been held by Esi Tonga.
The Titans centre stood transfixed as Taylor leapt to his feet and played on after hearing Maxwell's call to produce an unassailable 22-8 halftime lead.
The Titans finally gained some valuable field position in the third quarter - Mead again humiliated Vatuvei despite having only inches to work with - but any hope of a Gold Coast resurgence was undermined by a sharp Taylor offload and an inexcusable defensive blunder.
Taylor's weaving run towards the uprights on the hour climaxed with a brilliant pass to the on-rushing Maloney, and 5min later the five-eighth had his double after the Titans were slack when the Warriors earned a restart on the 20m line.
Kevin Locke took the quick tap and passed to Maloney who streaked away unopposed to seal the Warriors' fifth win in six matches.
New Zealand Warriors 34 (James Maloney 2, Lewis Brown, Manu Vatuvei, Simon Mannering, Elijah Taylor tries; Maloney 5 goals) Gold Coast Titans 14 (David Mead 3 tries; Scott Prince goal). Halftime: 22-8.
- NZPA
