Gold Coast Titans have staked an emphatic claim for the 2025 NRL wooden spoon after losing 36-20 to Parramatta in the bottom-of-the-table showdown at CommBank Stadium on Sunday night.
The two sides went into the match in equal last position with four wins apiece, separated by Parramatta’s marginally superior for-and-against statistics (minus-105 compared to minus-122).
But after the loser-takes-all clash on their home turf, the Eels put two competition points between themselves and their cellar-dwelling opponents.
Parramatta celebrate Joey Lussick’s try against Gold Coast.Credit: Getty Images
Parramatta have now joined St George Illawarra, North Queensland and Wests Tigers on five wins each, although points awarded for byes ensure the Eels remain clinging to the penultimate rung on the ladder.
The Titans, meanwhile, will need to produce a belated escape act or they will soon be consigned their third wooden spoon, and first since 2019. Their now-defunct predecessors, Gold Coast Seagulls, also finished stone motherless three times.
In front of a surprisingly vocal crowd of 8074 diehards, the Titans drew first blood, but Parramatta led 18-16 at the end of a fluctuating first half.
Gold Coast prop Jaimin Joliffe opened the scoring after only two minutes when he burst onto a Kieran Foran short ball and surged straight through the middle of the ruck.
The home team – minus starting halves Mitchell Moses (injured) and Dylan Brown (suspended) – responded 10 minutes later, keeping the ball alive through multiple sets of hands before centre Sean Russell scored in the corner.
The Eels doubled down four minutes later when hooker Joey Lussick burrowed over from dummy-half, then soon afterwards bench forward Charlie Guymer was on the spot to toe the ball ahead and regather after Titans fullback AJ Brimson spilled a towering Dean Hawkins bomb.
NSW winger Zac Lomax converted all three tries to give the Eels an 18-6 lead.
Adding to Gold Coast’s woes, halfback Jayden Campbell was dazed in a tackle and failed his head-injury assessment, ruling him out of the game. That meant they were not only down a playmaker, but a goalkicker, leaving back-rower Beau Fermor to take the conversion attempts.
Chris Randall makes a break for Gold Coast against Parramatta.Credit: Getty Images
Just when the Titans appeared to be ripe for the taking, they hit back with a stepping, weaving try from second-rower Chris Randall.
Six minutes later, prolific try poacher Alofiana Khan-Pereira latched onto an intercept and raced 90 metres to score his 53rd try in 52 NRL appearances.
That ensured the match was in the balance at the interval.
Parramatta extended their lead nine minutes after the break when exciting fullback Isaiah Iongi grubbered ahead and the ball hit the goalpost padding, allowing Hawkins to dive on it and score.
But a second Khan-Pereira try in the 63rd minute, after Foran and Brimson combined, lifted the visitors back within four points.
Some Lomax magic in the 67th minute restored Parramatta’s advantage. Chasing a Hawkins bomb, he flew high to catch it cleanly and then threw a basketball pass that centre Will Penisini gratefully accepted to score.
Four minutes later, Penisini supported a Hawkins break and slid over for his second try in quick succession.
That left the Titans with 10 minutes to chase a 16-point deficit, a task that was always going to be beyond them.
Penisini ended a strong game on a disappointing note when he was sin-binned and placed on report for a dangerous throw in the 78th minute.
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