The Gold Coast Titans flexed their muscles late at Brookvale Oval, but it wasn’t enough to take down the Manly Sea Eagles, who withstood a huge scare to win 12-10.
Early errors heavily marred the Titans’ outing, leaving them unable to capitalise on crucial opportunities.
Coach Josh Hannay could only watch on in horror from the box as his players continuously dropped the ball. However, a late surge saw the Titans put the Sea Eagles on high alert in the dying stages of the match.
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Blake Wilson of the Sea Eagles celebrates scoring a try with Josh Feledy. Getty
The narrow win well and truly cements Manly in fourth place on the NRL ladder, marking their eighth victory under the guidance of Kieran Foran.
The Saturday night game was the NRL’s lowest-scoring match of 2026.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to win ugly, and the most important thing for us tonight, we’ve got the two points,” said Jamal Fogarty on Fox League.
“Obviously, we’re missing some personnel, but we’ve got a lot of depth and belief in our younger guys that jumped in the squad tonight, and it takes a whole club to get through a season.
“So, ugly win tonight, but we’ll take the two points and take our learnings.”
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Blake Wilson hit the scoreboard in the 18th minute, crashing over the line to score his first try as a Manly Sea Eagle.
Manly extended their lead in the second half when Ben Trbojevic created space on the left edge for Clayton Faulalo to burst through and score.
Then, the Titans finally clicked into gear with 15 minutes left on the clock.
Phillip Sami put the Gold Coast on the scoreboard first. Shortly after, the Titans threatened a comeback when Jaylan de Groot stepped inside three would-be tacklers and scored under the posts.
Ben Trbojevic was sent off for a HIA after a head knock in the second half, displaying category one symptoms.
Manly play the Sharks next Friday night while the Titans have a bye next week.