The Warriors have moved back into the NRL’s top four on the back of a dominant win 14-point over an error-riddled Titans outfit.

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MATCH CENTRE: Gold Coast Titans vs New Zealand Warriors live scores, teams

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New Zealand completely outclassed Gold Coast to win 32-18 in front of 23,271 fans at Cbus Super Stadium on Saturday.

Gold Coast looked to play an open style of football full of risk but outside of scoring first in the third minute through captain Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, the Titans were at sea.

Loose with the ball in hand, vulnerable under the high ball and poor in defence, the Titans took another step towards securing the third wooden spoon in its short history in a disappointing season that will likely end with coach Des Hasler’s exit.

The Warriors scored three times in the first 20 minutes on the back of three Titans errors and never relinquished its stranglehold on the game.

Gold Coast made nine errors in the first half and finished with 15, restricting the side from producing the quick points that could have breathed life back into the game.

“I thought we handed it to them,” Hasler said.

“I thought we were pretty poor with the ball, our discipline around the ball.

“They certainly didn’t have to work for any field position. But we can’t keep tossing that up week in and week out, finding another way to come up with another excuse not to manage the game properly.

“It’s not acceptable. We have got to be better than that.”

Former Titan Tanah Boyd pulled the strings from halfback for New Zealand while Roger Tuivasa-Sheck scored a double on the left wing as the Warriors moved into fourth spot on the ladder on the back of the round 25 victory.

Warriors coach Andrew Webster said his side played a good brand of football against Gold Coast but declared they had a long way to go to earn its top four finish.

“We want to improve. If we improve at the rate we want we will be happy with that,” Webster said.

“We aren’t where we want to be. I thought (the win over the Titans) was a step in the right direction but we didn’t finish the job and that’s another part of our improvement but we played a good brand of football for 60minutes.

“We are really happy with the improvements but we have a long way to go. We are confident we can get there if we work hard.”

Warriors looking to improve for finals | 04:09

KINI COME ON

Livewire fullback Keano Kini was named on Gold Coast’s bench for Saturday’s clash but didn’t come on until the 60th minute.

In his second game back since returning from injury, Kini had to wait until there was just 20 minutes left on the clock with his team down by 20 points before Hasler opted to inject him into a game well and truly over.

He replaced playmaker Kieran Foran, with AJ Brimson shifting into the halves but it was too little too late for Gold Coast.

Gold Coast looked more threatening with him on the field but the margin was too great to overcome.

“That was planned,” Hasler said.

“We just wanted to keep giving Keano more minutes there. That was the way we ran it. When he came on he had some nice touches.”

KICKERS MILKING PENALTIES

Tanah Boyd put in a strong performance for the Warriors but he became the latest playmaker to milk a penalty from a kick in a sad look for the game.

Boyd was barely brushed across the shoulder in the 41st minute by Titan Klese Haas when kicking on the fifth tackle but went into an impressive spin before being awarded a penalty.

Haas was told by the referee that he made no genuine attempt to tackle but a rule that was brought in to protect kickers from being injured while in vulnerable positions is still being used to milk penalties from safe positions.

HIGH BALL DRAMAS

Gold Coast’s inability to take a high ball brought the side undone.

Two of New Zealand’s opening three tries came on the back of dropped high balls from Jojo Fifita and Phil Sami. The latter put another down in the second half while Gold Coast were also outjumped by Adam Pompey in the 58th minute while conceding another.

It should be a huge area of concern for Hasler and his coaching staff going into the final two rounds.

“It does not make sense for a side that is down by 14 to not even be looking at the ball when the ball goes up and just waiting for the fullback to catch it and then tackle him,” Greg Alexander said on Fox League.

“That must be the plan but the plan has to be flexible.”

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