Hurrell hero in Vodafone Warriors win

NRL ROUND 18 RESULT

VODAFONE WARRIORS - 32
(K Hurrell 3, S Johnson, B Matulino, K Locke Tries; J Maloney 4/6 Goals)
Defeated
GOLD COAST TITANS - 14
(B Champion, K Gordon, D Mead Tries; S Prince 1/3 Goals)
Skilled Park/Gold Coast.

A hat-trick from centre Konrad Hurrell has led the Vodafone Warriors to an emphatic 32-14 victory over the Titans at Skilled Park.

Despite trailing for a majority of the first half, the Warriors finished the first forty strongly and then put on an impressive second half display against the Gold Coast men, attacking at will down the edge of the ruck.

The match started at a frantic pace with the Warriors scoring in their first set of the game when five-eighth James Maloney putting the ball on a platter for Konrad Hurrell. The unconverted try in the second minute got the Warriors kick-started early, however, a nice long ball from Aidan Sezer saw Beau Champion cruise over down the right edge in the 12th minute, drawing the score at 4-4.

It didn’t take long for the Titans to strike again, when Jamal Idris scooped up a loose Warriors ball to run 30 metres before finding a flying Kevin Gordon in support. Scott Prince made no mistake with the conversion ten metres in from the left touchline, taking the score to 10-4 after just 16 minutes.

The open-style running play continued from both sides, and while the Warriors put on some nice attacking play through the middle, it was the Titans who struck again. The Gold Coast men delivered a near carbon-copy try of their first, with Sezer throwing a long ball to an acrobatic David Mead in the right corner. Prince narrowly missed the conversion leaving the scoreline at 14-4.

After the early barrage, the Warriors began to hit their stride, gaining good ground through the middle of the park. Shaun Johnson was also causing havoc with his darting runs, and it was the young halfback who would decrease the Titans lead going over under the posts after a lovely short ball from Feleti Mateo. Maloney had no problem with the easy conversion to take the score to 14-10 with ten minutes to play in the first half.

A couple of penalties off the restart piggy-backed the Warriors up the field as the first 40 minutes came to an end. Although not a great deal seemed to be happening for the visitors, a rampaging Konrad Hurrell manufactured his double out of nothing, barging his way over to bring the Warriors level. A beautifully struck Maloney conversion went between the posts, giving his side a 16-14 lead at the break.

Who was your Man of the Match? Vote in the Provan Summons Award here.

The second half started as brisk as the first, with the Vodafone Warriors making the most of a mountain of early possession to increase the lead through Konrad Hurell. The hard-running centre scored his hat-trick in the 46th minute after a great long ball from Maloney put him outside his man. The five-eighth couldn’t convert his try assist, leaving the score at 20-12.

The Titans continued to work hard, especially out of their own end, and despite some valiant efforts, found themselves waiting under the posts again, when a bustling try from Ben Matulino increased the Warriors lead to 12 with 19 minutes remaining.

The Titans finally got some ball in latter stages of the second half, and looked good with it in hand, finding offloads to enhance their second phase play. A couple of close chances from the Gold Coast men almost brought them within reach, however, a resilient Warriors defence held them out to stay in control of the match.

It seemed that the scoreline would remain at 26-14, with both sides fatiguing in the dying minutes. Although the Titans had their chances up the field, it was the Warriors who had one try left in them with Kevin Locke topping off a excellent second half for the visitors, securing a fantastic 32-14 victory.

Top Performers
Best for the Warriors were James Maloney, Ben Matulino and Konrad Hurrell, while Best for the Titans were, Luke Douglas and Michael Henderson.

GOLD COAST TITANS
W Zillman, K Gordon, J Idris, B Champion, D Mead, A Sezer, S Prince ©, M White, M Srama, L Douglas, M Henderson, M Minichiello, B Ridge.
Bench: B Lawrence, L O’Dwyer, R James, D Peyroux.
VODAFONE WARRIORS
K Locke, B Tupou, B Henry, K Hurrell, O Slaimankhel, J Maloney, S Johnson, R Packer, N Friend, B Matulino, F Mateo, S Mannering ©, E Taylor.
Bench: L Brown, Sione Lousi, J Lillyman, Steve Rapira.

In the NYC match the Vodafone Junior Warriors beat the Titans 38-22.

Next Up:
The Vodafone Warriors travel to Brisbane to take on the Broncos on Friday with kick-off at 7:35pm.