The Dolphins’ chances of qualifying for a finals berth in their second season have taken a massive hit after they blew a 14-point lead against the Gold Coast at Suncorp Stadium.
Wayne Bennett’s team had the chance to rise into sixth spot and gain some valuable breathing space on the ninth-placed Dragons after they were thumped by Penrith but they folded in the second half in a worrying sign leading into the final six rounds.
With the Roosters, Warriors, Storm, Bulldogs, Broncos and Knights on their remaining schedule, the Dolphins face a tricky task to hang onto their top-eight spot and while destiny is still in their own hands, their grip on a playoff spot is looking shaky.
For the Titans, their seventh victory of the season keeps their faint post-season chances alive – four points off eighth spot, they still probably need to win all their remaining fixtures and hope a few other results go their way.
They received a massive spray from coach Des Hasler at half-time and the verbal barrage had the desired result as they dominated the Dolphins in the second stanza without conceding any more points.
Last year at the same venue the Dolphins trailed 26-0 before launching the equal-biggest comeback in premiership history to win 28-26.
This time Gold Coast showed the character and class to fight back with winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira scoring a double to take his season tally to 19.
“Today was a really important one. We are still alive,” Hasler said. “We were way off the pace in the first half and addressed that at halftime and came out and did what we needed to.
“I am really proud of the way we responded. We have got to use that against the Broncos. It will be another tough one next week.”
The Dolphins are in eighth on 24 points but their second-half collapses have become an issue that has put their finals hopes in jeopardy after six losses from the past eight games.
“The effort is outstanding. Our execution is killing us,” coach Wayne Bennett said.
“There aren’t many games we haven’t led at halftime but we find a way in the second half to let it all fall apart.”
The Dolphins drew first blood when Tevita Pangai jnr latched onto a ricochet from an Isaiya Katoa grubber for a 6-0 lead in just the third minute.
Fellow prop Jesse Bromwich unveiled a rarely seen swan dive when he registered a rare touchdown, running off a perfectly timed Katoa pass, to double the lead inside 15 minutes.
A penalty goal widened the gap before Dolphins forward Josh Kerr was sin-binned late in the first half for a blatant case of interfering with a support player after Khan-Pereira made a long break down the left flank.
Gold Coast centre Brian Kelly crossed after the visitors exploited the overlap on the next set to cut the deficit to eight at the break.
Alofiana Khan-Pereira is tackled by Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)
Dolphins winger Jack Bostock had a try controversially disallowed when he jumped over an offside Kieran Foran at dummy half to plunge over in the corner.
Khan-Pereira crossed in the corner from a clumsy Jayden Campbell pass to bring the Titans within four points in the 52nd minute.
Campbell and Khan-Pereira repeated the same trick just before the hour mark but the five-eighth’s sideline conversion bounced away off the upright.
Titans centre Phil Sami claimed a try to put his team in front but he was rightly denied for a double movement after promoting the ball following Ray Stone’s last-ditch tackle.
A grubber from lock Chris Randall bounced off the upright for Klese Haas to put the Titans ahead entering the final 10 minutes and they sealed their upset with a late Foran field goal.
with AAP
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