The Titans have thumped the Warriors to steal eighth spot on the ladder from the Sharks in their last game of the regular season – and they completed the mission in crazy scenes.
The Gold Coast clash, which saw four sin-bins in 60 seconds and featured a running feud between Warriors front-rower Matt Lodge and Titans prop Jarrod Wallace, led to Wallace making a blunt admission after the full-time siren.
“I don’t think Lodgey likes me very much. Look, I’m not the biggest fan of his either,” Wallace told Fox League.
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Needing to beat the New Zealand outfit by 11 points to pinch eighth position from Cronulla, Gold Coast nailed the task in a 44-0 smashing.
The huge win means the Titans, who are now set to meet the Roosters in an elimination final in Townsville next Saturday evening, have qualified for the finals for the first time since 2016.
While there was no contest on the scoreboard in the Titans’ crucial percentage-boosting win over the Warriors, the game itself was packed with spot fires and one wild biff.
Referee Ashley Klein marched three Warriors and one Titan to the sin bin late in the game.
Warriors back-rower Jazz Tevaga was the first player sin-binned, on the back of an all-in scuffle that broke out in the Titans’ in-goal area in the 65th minute.
Rising New Zealand fullback Reece Walsh ignited the fight when he tore in to ragdoll Phillip Sami, after the Titans winger tackled Warriors centre Rocco Berry into touch.
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That was followed by Tevaga hurtling in from afar to knock Sami to the ground, intensifying the fight.
“It might be a push, but you had nothing to do with that incident,” a stern Klein said to Tevaga as he dumped him in the sin bin.
“You’re in the bin.
“Do not run from a distance.”
Fox League commentator Warren Smith added: “That is the most obvious sin-binning you will ever see. Jazz Tevaga, about 15th man in – he gets first use of the showers.”
But the maddest scenes of the game were yet to unfold.
Tensions again boiled over when Lodge floored Titans five-eighth Tyrone Peachey with a late hit less than a minute after Tevaga’s sin-binning.
Wallace, who had sensationally challenged Lodge to a boxing bout earlier in the game, raced in to confront the former Bronco and Tiger, sparking an all-in brawl.
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After Lodge was sent to the sin bin – and gave Titans fans the middle finger on his way – firebrand Warriors prop Kane Evans joined him on the sideline for twice attempting to punch Wallace in the head.
And it was then a game of 12 versus 10 when Klein sin-binned Wallace for his confrontation with Lodge.
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Astonishingly, Lodge could be set for his third suspension as a Warrior, even though he only made his debut for the club in July, while he also had to beat a charge during the week in order to take his place in his side’s final game.
Evans had also drawn the ire of officials in recent times, having been twice sent to the sin bin during the Warriors’ spiteful clash with the Sharks in August.
“And now there’s another flare-up!” said Smith as the fight stemming from the Lodge hit on Peachey erupted.
“There’s some insanity here on the Gold Coast this afternoon.
“The Warriors might have figured, ‘We can’t win the game, we’ll try and win the fight’. This is old-school stuff. It’s not good.”
Legendary Balmain front-rower Steve Roach added: “They don’t need to get involved with it, do they? The Titans – they just need to play and just get on with it.”
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