Live: Titans and Roosters locked in gruelling physical battle

Francis drops a kick off the first set of the second half but the Roosters again let the chance go begging, this time with a poor end to the set.

Tedesco cuts through on a kick return and has Tupou in support, he’s dragged down on the 20 but they can strike right on halftime.

Townsend grubbers it in behind but Campbell swoops on it again. Drop out. Smith shapes for the field goal once he gathers it in, grubbers for himself, gets taken down and the referee says its clean but the Roosters challenge it.

Challenge denied. Not the best half of footy.

Tupou knocks on a Campbell kick inside his own ten to give the Titans a great chance before halftime….only for Haas to lose it in contact on the first. Kind of sums up the first half.

Radley has been cleared and he’s coming back on. Good news for the Roosters.

Steep throws a good short ball to Tedesco and he surges down field to put the Roosters on the attack again, next tackle they spread it right but Toia drops a simple pass. Geez, the Roosters have really let some chances go begging, which has been a theme for them the last couple of weeks.

Tedesco hits a gap off Dockar-Clay, the captain twists through a few defenders, tries to throw a pass, it’s deflected by the Titans, he gets it back and pops an offload to Smith who knocks it on straight back into Tedesco. Titans penalty.

The Roosters lock has had a head clash with Chris Randall and he reels away from the contact. Radley’s had an awful run with head knocks, he’s been concussed once already this year and has been sent for HIA’s three more times.

He’s off, we’ll keep you updated.

Crichton clips Sami high and the Titans have a chance at an equaliser.

Campbell very nearly cuts through and from the quick play-the-ball Brimson flies onto it and bashes over for the try! Right next to the posts as well. Strong stuff from the five-eighth.

Campbell converts and we’re locked at six each.

A bad drop from Fermor puts the Roosters back on the attack, then Smith squares it up and throws a good cut out pass to Nawaqanitawase and the rugby convert is over! Great line and powerful stuff from the centre.

Smith converts and it’s 6-0 Roosters.

A strong kick return from Tupou ends with the veteran earning a ruck penalty and the Roosters will go on the attack again.

But then Leniu lets them off the hook with a simple drop. Crichton looked dangerous on that set and Tedesco was buzzing around him, that’s one to watch.

Now the Titans get a penalty and they’ll have a chance.

Tedesco earns a six again on the fourth, then Crichton nearly pushes through and the Roosters have the first chance of the night.

Townsend rolls a kick through on the last but Campbell cleans it up and the Titans work it away.

Titans kick us off, running right to left.

Both teams are 1-17 as named on Tuesday but Gold Coast will be without fullback Keano Kini, who will be out for a long stretch with a neck injury.

It’s a hammer blow for the Titans. Kini is one of the most exciting up and comers in the league and was superb in their win over the Knights last weekend.

Jaylen de Groot takes over at fullback – he’s only got the one NRL game to his name and while he’s quick and willing, Kini leaves a big hole.

Did you know the Roosters have won their last 11 matches against Gold Coast? The Titans haven’t lowered their colours since 2016 when they beat them 26-6 at Skilled Park – a very young Latrell Mitchell scored Easts’ only try that night.

That’s not to say there haven’t been some great games between them. I’m very fond of this excellent sudden-death semi-final between the two from 2021. Imagine if Herbert just passed the ball……

Fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen has overcome an ankle injury to give the Melbourne back-line a much-needed boost as they prepare to face St George Illawarra on Saturday.

The unbeaten Storm will tackle the winless Dragons at Jubilee Stadium without Dally M Medal-winning halfback Jahrome Hughes (hand) or goal-kicking centre Nick Meaney (facial fracture), who have both undergone surgery.

Papenhuyzen hurt his ankle late in their last-round victory over Penrith but didn’t require any strapping and was moving freely in their final training session before flying to Sydney, with coach Craig Bellamy saying he was set to play.

“He (Papenhuyzen) hasn’t done all of training this week but he’s done a bit of it and he did the last session that we did and seemed to get through that OK, so if he gets through today he will be fine,” Bellamy said on Friday.

Grant Anderson has also overcome a knee injury against the Panthers to take Meaney’s No.4 jersey while gun utility Tyran Wishart will start at halfback for Hughes, who was a bystander at training although is only expected to miss a further match.

“It wasn’t a great night ideal for us injury-wise, losing a couple of really important players to our team, but it’s been a long turnaround so we’ve had plenty of time to get ready and hopefully we’ve used that time well,” Bellamy said.

“Wish (Wishart) hasn’t played a lot at that position with us so hopefully this week he’s got a bit of a feel for the guys playing around him, and them for him.”

AAP

Hey everyone, my name is Nick and I’ll be steering you through all the NRL action on this fine Friday evening.

We’ll have a bit of news from around the league to get us started before we get to the meat – a Roosters-Titans clash from the new SFS and then we go north to Lang Park for the latest Battle of Brisbane.

It’s gonna be a sick one, let’s do it!

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