Gold Coast captain Scott Prince orchestrated back-to-back away victories for the Titans as they overcame an out-of-sorts Warriors 28-20 at Mt Smart Stadium on Sunday.
It was the Titans fifth consecutive win over the Warriors.
In wet Auckland conditions, both sides were reluctant to push the pass or employee an expansive game, instead opting for one-out dummy-half runs, interchanges close to the ruck and kicks to the corners.
Prince was faultless as he directed traffic and set up four-pointers, easily overshadowing his opposite Brett Seymour.
The visitors were determined and for the second week running, the Warriors were out enthused across the park. They looked nothing like the side that was on a five-match winning streak two weeks ago.
Both teams were tied on 24-points heading into the match and will head in very different directions on a compressed NRL ladder.
From a repeat set, Warriors five-eight James Maloney delicately dissected the Titans' defence and captain Simon Mannering was on hand to collect the first try. Maloney slotted the conversion to give his said a 6-0 lead after nine minutes.
An Anthony Laffranchi infringement sent the Warriors downfield. Fullback Lance Hohaia sliced though a yawning hole and over the whitewash in Steve Michaels' tackle, placing the ball on the line – with benefit of the doubt awarded. Maloney split the uprights to double the advantage.
But a Warriors error off the kick off gave the Titans a golden opportunity. Prince obliged, with a well-weighted grubber that Michaels collected. Prince slotted the extras.
The Warriors kickoff errors continued as they booted the ball out on the full, but it went unpunished.
Michaels had a brace six minutes before the break after another Prince bomb was spilled - this time Maloney was the culprit - as the centre picked up the scraps to stroll in. Prince squared the ledger at 12-all.
It wasn't just the score that was tied at the interval, an almost perfect split of possession epitomised the tight, conservative encounter. The home side failed to capitalise on its dominant pack that had run for 100 more metres than the
opposition.
An outstanding Vatuvei leap broke the deadlock and sparked the second half scoring two minutes in. Seymour's chip was the catalyst as the Beast improved his strike-rate, claiming his 14th try in 13 games this year. Maloney misfired with the conversion but the Warriors had a four-point lead (16-12).
Prince forced a pass inside his 20-metre zone and William Zillman knocked on. Luckily for the visitors their scrambling defenders pushed winger Bill Tupou into touch two plays later.
Gold Coast pinned the Warriors on their own line for three consecutive sets and it was all too easy for Matt Rogers when the stand-in five-eight snaffled Prince's ball and a try to draw the Titans level. Prince, the orchestrator, knocked over the two-points to snatch the lead, 18-16, with 20-minutes remaining.
Heartbreak struck the home side when Zillman blocked makeshift centre Lewis Brown's attempted dab into the in-goal. The Titans wing raced 90-metres, untouched, to silence 12017 crowd. Prince missed an easy chance to take his side out past a converted try.
Rogers pulled off a 40-20 and then almost claimed a try, only to be denied by a last second Hohaia hand. Then a refereeing blunder gave the Titans gain another set, which saw Rogers break though Brent Tate's feeble tackle and score. Price nailed the extras for an unassailable 28-16 lead.
Seymour grabbed a late consolation try.