Roosters Fall to the Titans in a Physical Battle
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Playmaker Lauren Brown enjoyed a huge day out to help the Titans punish an error-ridden Roosters side 26-6 on Sunday, lifting them back into the winner's circle for the first time since Round 2.
On a sweltering day at Cbus Super Stadium in which temperatures hit the high 20s come game time, the Roosters wilted in dramatic fashion, making 16 errors and missing 38 tackles across the 70 minutes.
The Titans had no such troubles and on the back of a dominant performance from her pack – led by a 187-metre effort from Shannon Mato – Brown created chaos with ball in hand.
The Maroons representative set up two of her side's five tries and scored two herself, while causing constant headaches for the Roosters back three with her towering bombs that yielded several repeat sets.
While adversity struck early for the hosts when Taliah Fuimaono was binned for a tackle that resulted in Roosters skipper Isabelle Kelly leaving the field for a HIA, which she later passed, it only served to spur them on.
Fuimaono sent to the bin
They were fortunate to get away with a Jayme Fressard effort on the very next set that was ruled out due to double movement, but a short time later the hosts opened the scoring through Emily Bass after a well-executed scrum play from close range.
Terrible handling through the first half saw the Roosters make nine errors and complete just half of their 14 sets, while on the rare occasions they were in attacking territory they lacked creative ideas to break the Titans down.
Evania Pelite 1st Try
A try from Evania Pelite in the shadows of half-time threatened to be a back-breaker for the Tricolours, and when they dropped the ball on their very first set of the second half and allowed Brown to score their hill to climb suddenly became a mountain.
Doubles followed for both Pelite and Brown, and with the latter on song with the boot the lead became 26 with 19 minutes still to go in the game.
Lauren Brown 2nd Try
Even when they did get over the line in the second half the Roosters came up with an error, with Tarryn Aiken spilling the footy in the act of putting it down with 13 to play.
In the end John Strange's side avoided being blanked on the scoreboard thanks to a late strike from Sam Bremner.
Match: Titans v Roosters
Round 5 -
home Team
Titans
6th Position
away Team
Roosters
3rd Position
Venue: Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
Match Snapshot
- After averaging just seven points across their previous two games, the Titans ran up their second highest score of the season.
- The Roosters made 16 errors to the Titans 10, with nine coming in the first alone.
- Shannon Mato had a game-high 22 carries for 187 metres in the win.
- In the fifth minute Taliah Fuimaono was sent to the sin bin and placed on report for a making contact with her shoulder in a tackle on Isabelle Kelly, which resulted in the Roosters centre being sent for a head injury assessment that she passed.
- Representative prop Millie Elliott was forced from the field in the 13th minute for a HIA which she passed, while fellow bookend Mya Hill-Moana left the field in the final five minutes for an assessment as well.
- Titans back-rower Shaylee Bent and Roosters winger Jayme Fressard were both sent to the sin bin with 20 minutes to go for their roles in a scuffle.
Tempers boil over at CBUS
- Titans forward Zara Canfield was placed on report midway through the first half, with centre Jaime Chapman following late in the second half after being pinged for a hip drop.
- Fressard failed to finish the final minutes of the loss due to an ankle injury.
Play of the Game
Just one example of Lauren Brown's individual brilliance on the day, it was this try that really killed the spirit of the Roosters in the opening minutes of the second half. The play summed up the confidence Brown is playing with right now, on the back of an excellent Origin campaign for Queensland.
Lauren Brown 1st Try
What They Said
"It's embarrassing from our point of view; it was tough to watch. We just couldn't hold the ball, silly errors, fundamental errors unfortunately. We certainly didn't turn up today, we knew the Titans after losing their last couple were going to turn up and they were desperate to win... we didn't aim up." – Roosters coach John Strange.
Roosters: Round 5
"We weren't quite there the last couple of weeks, so to see the girls turn it around today, to play like we know they can play, it was just a great team effort across the board. I thought particularly when we dropped down to 12 players there, that was a really testing time in some hot conditions, with a quality team across from us... that's an indication of how they all turned up today." – Titans coach Karyn Murphy.
Titans: Round 5
