The Warriors fanbase is reeling from a scarcely comprehensible 66-6 loss to the last-placed Gold Coast Titans at Cbus Super Stadium, a result that has justifiably been described as the worst in the club’s chequered 30-year history.
The unfashionable Titans broke several club records while fielding four players with less than 15 NRL games to their credit; Jacob Laban was the only Warriors player who had turned out in less than 30 as they sunk to a humiliating, record-equalling defeat.
The raw in-game stats back up – though come nowhere near rationalising – the contention that the Warriors’ performance was one of the worst by any team in the NRL era.
The visitors had:
- 46% possession
- 69% completed to the Titans’ 87%
- 1,408 run metres to the Titans’ 2,151
- 399 post-contact metres to the Titans’ 522
- 39.13m average set distance to the Titans’ 52.48
- 1 line-break to the Titans’ 12
- 45 missed tackles to the Titans’ 24
- 13 errors to the Titans’ 7
- 6 penalties conceded to the Titans’ 5
Only wingers Ed Kosi and Marcelo Montoya, and prop Addin Fonua-Blake finished with a clean sheet in the missed tackle department, while Adam Pompey, Te Maire Martin and Tohu Harris were the only members of the starting line-up not to record an error.
Historically diabolical
There’s no way around it – the Warriors’ capitulation on the Gold Coast will live in infamy for perpetuity due to its sheer scale.
Here’s some of the harrowing facts, figures and unwanted records to emerge from the defeat:
- The 60-point losing margin equalled the Warriors’ biggest ever, matching the record set in their 70-10 loss to Melbourne at AAMI Park on Anzac Day 2022.
- The 66 points conceded was the second-most in their history, after the aforementioned 70 points the Storm point on the Nathan Brown-coached side two seasons ago (they have leaked 60 or more on only two other occasions – 62 to Penrith in 2013 and 60 to Souths in 2021).
- It was only the 31st occasion in premiership history a team has conceded 66 points or more, while the 66-6 scoreline, with its satanic connotations, is a first.
- The 60-point margin sits equal-25th in the competition’s 117-season history.
- Languishing in 17th heading into the weekend, the Titans’ victory represented the equal-biggest of all time by a team running last and only the third ever by a 50-plus margin (after Brisbane’s 50-0 win over Western Suburbs in 1999 and Melbourne’s 70-10 drubbing of St George Illawarra in 2000).
The defeat would have brought back devastating memories for seven players: Ed Kosi, Adam Pompey, Shaun Johnson, Addin Fonua-Blake, Wayde Egan, Chanel Harris-Tavita and Jazz Tevaga also featured in the 70-10 loss to the Storm.
Encouragingly for their prospects of an immediate turnaround in Round 17, the Warriors have won their last four games after conceding 50-plus points in their previous outing.
Titans rewrite the record books
The Warriors piggybacked the Titans to a host of new team and individual club records, obliterating several of the overwhelmingly hapless 2007 NRL entrants’ modest marks:
TEAM
- Biggest winning margin: 60 points (previous: 44 points v Warriors, 2021)
- Highest score: 66 points (previous: 44 v Cowboys, 2021; 44 v Raiders, 2021; 44 v Warriors, 2021; 44 v Sea Eagles, 2022)
- Most tries: 11 tries (previous: 8 v Raiders, 2012; 8 v Sea Eagles, 2020; 8 v Knights, 2021; 8 v Raiders, 2021; 8 v Warriors, 2021; 8 v Sea Eagles, 2022)
INDIVIDUAL
- Most points in a game: 26 – Jayden Campbell (previous: 20 – Scott Prince v Tigers, 2009)
- Most tries in a game: 4 – Alofiana Khana-Pereira (equal with: 4 – Jordan Atkins v Cowboys, 2008)
Get the calculators out
It’s getting towards that time again – working out how many of their remaining games the Warriors can afford to lose and still make the finals.
Last season the Top 8 cut-off was 32 competition points. Given they have two byes remaining, that means the Warriors need to win seven of their last nine games to finish with 33 points, or six to land on 31 points.
The Warriors have a 6-1-8 record after 15 outings. Only once has the club reached the finals after recording less than seven wins from their first 15 games: in 2008, when the Warriors went 6-9 but steamed into an eighth-place finish with eight wins from their last 10 games.
Broncos find footing on Kiwi soil
Brisbane arrives in Auckland for a crunch showdown with the Warriors this Saturday that could alter the teetering trajectory of both clubs’ campaigns.
The Broncos have won eight and drawn one of the teams’ last 13 clashes, including a 26-22 upset in Napier without their Origin stars and a 42-12 romp in the Suncorp Stadium-hosted preliminary final in 2023.
The former was the Broncos’ third straight victory in New Zealand, having won their last two assignments at Mt Smart Stadium: 27-18 in 2018 and 8-2 in 2019.
It’s been a notable trans-Tasman turnaround for the Broncos, who won just two of 10 games at Mt Smart from 2007-17.
It’s certainly the best month historically for the Warriors to be taking on Brisbane: they have won five of their six June matches against the perpetually Origin-impacted heavyweights.
Number crunchers
Positives were virtually non-existent in Saturday’s horror show, but a handful of Warriors at least indicated a modicum of effort with some decent statlines.
- Jackson Ford topped the tackle count with 39 tackles and toiled for 97 metres on 13 carries.
- Tohu Harris could never be accused of not putting in, so it was little surprise to learn he racked up 111 metres and 35 tackles despite the dismal result.
- Jazz Tevaga struggled defensively but led the forwards with 129 metres from 13 runs in just 30 minutes on the paddock.
- Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad led the team with 147 running metres.