The Warriors are reeling after a crucial 24-16 home loss to the bottom-placed Gold Coast Titans, blowing a gift-wrapped opportunity to pull five points clear in fourth spot.
In a throwback to 2024, the Warriors gave up a double-digit lead for the first time this season – getting out to a 10-0 scoreline after eight minutes before getting overrun by a Titans outfit that beat the hosts at their own game.
The battling Titans enjoyed 54 percent possession on the back of an elite 90 percent completion rate (40/44), consequently winning run metres (1,876 to 1,709) and post-contact metres (659 to 576) counts, while they also finished on top in the average set distance stakes (42.65 to 40.69).
The Warriors completed just 33 of 42 sets (78 percent), made 11 errors and conceded six set restarts to the Titans’ three.
Titanic bogey
There’s no sugar-coating it now – the Warriors have got themselves tangled up in a genuine hoodoo at the hands of Gold Coast Titans.
The perennial battlers have now won six of their last seven against the Warriors, including three straight at Mount Smart Stadium.
The only other teams in the NRL to have won more than five of their last seven against the Warriors are heavyweights Melbourne, Penrith and Sydney Roosters.
Lucky last
Losing games their team is widely expected to win is an all-too-familiar feeling for long-term Warriors fans.
But the defeat to the Titans was just the fourth in their history – and first in a decade – against the team running last on the ladder during the second half of a regular season.
It was also the Warriors’ first loss to a bottom-three opponent after the halfway mark of a campaign in almost three years.
WARRIORS LOSSES TO BOTTOM-THREE OPPOSITION DURING SECOND HALF OF REGULAR SEASON 1995-25
Round 21, 2025: Lost 26-14 to 17th-placed (last) Titans at Mount Smart Stadium
Round 25, 2022: Lost 27-26 to 15th-placed Titans at Mount Smart Stadium (golden point)
Round 22, 2021: Lost 24-22 to 15th-placed Broncos at Suncorp Stadium
Round 15, 2019: Lost 19-18 to 14th-placed Panthers at Mount Smart Stadium (golden point)
Round 23, 2018: Lost 27-26 to 14th-placed Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium
Round 26, 2017: Lost 28-16 to 15th-placed Tigers at Leichhardt Oval
Round 23, 2016: Lost 41-22 to 14th-placed Rabbitohs at Mount Smart Stadium
Round 26, 2016: Lost 40-18 to 14th-placed Eels at Mount Smart Stadium
Round 23, 2015: Lost 24-10 to 14th-placed Panthers at Panthers Stadium
Round 25, 2015: Lost 50-16 to 16th-placed (last) Tigers at Campbelltown Stadium
Round 22, 2014: Lost 28-22 to 14th-placed Knights at McDonald Jones Stadium
Round 26, 2013: Lost 19-10 to 15th-placed Dragons at WIN Stadium
Round 24, 2012: Lost 18-16 to 15th-placed Panthers at Mount Smart Stadium
Round 21, 2008: Lost 18-16 to 14th-placed Rabbitohs at Mount Smart Stadium
Round 23, 2007: Lost 26-24 to 14th-placed Raiders at GIO Stadium
Round 24, 2005: Lost 16-4 to 15th-placed (last) Knights at Mount Smart Stadium
Round 16, 2001: Lost 21-16 to 13th-placed Tigers at Mount Smart Stadium
Round 18, 1998: Lost 31-18 to 20th-placed (last) Chargers at Carrara Stadium
Round 22, 1998: Lost 20-18 to 18th-placed Rabbitohs at Sydney Football Stadium
Round 16, 1996, Lost 32-12 to 19th-placed Reds at WACA
RTS eats the metres
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck set new standards for metre-eating excellence during his tenure as the Warriors’ fullback, but his industrious efforts from the wing in 2025 have been astounding.
The 32-year-old ran for a season-high 276 metres against Gold Coast – his third straight game surpassing 250 metres.
RTS now boasts a season average of 200.2 metres per game, fifth in the NRL among players who have played more than three games behind only Penrith’s Dylan Edwards (223.2), Canterbury’s Connor Tracey (206.3), Parramatta’s Zac Lomax (203.8) and Sydney Roosters’ James Tedesco (202.6).
Number crunchers
Besides Tuivasa-Sheck, a handful of Warriors boosted their season statlines with hardworking displays in a disappointing loss to the Titans:
- Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad racked up 209 metres on 25 runs – the eighth time in 15 matches this season he has broken the 200-metre barrier.
- James Fisher-Harris churned out 151 metres from 15 carries and 46 tackles, both season-high tallies for the skipper.
- Jackson Ford toiled for a game-high 54 tackles, along with 13 runs for 128 metres.
- Tyros Leka Halasima (eight runs for 94 metres, 39 tackles) – who scored a try for the sixth time in seven games for a team-high tally of nine – and Demetric Vaimauga (10 runs for 89 metres, 35 tackles) maintained their consistently high work-rates.
