'Reward for effort': Hannay on Titans 52-10 win
The Gold Coast Titans produced one of the most dominant performances in club history on Sunday afternoon, crushing the Parramatta Eels 52-10 at Cbus Super Stadium in a display that coach Josh Hannay called “reward for effort.”
While the Titans got their first win of the season against a struggling St George Illawarra Dragons side, this result saw everything click — from crisp attacking combinations to committed goal-line defence — as they ran in nine tries and limited the Eels to just two in reply.
"Reward for effort," Hannay said post match.
"[The] boys have been working super hard. Been really happy with the effort and a lot of what I’ve seen. But they’ve been banging their head against a brick wall a little bit. Today the passes stuck, [we] got some momentum. They had a little bit go their way today and they deserved it.”
It was only the second time in the Titans’ history that the club had posted 50 points in a game, but Hannay was more impressed by the defensive steel his side showed in conceding just ten.
“Yeah, I think the 10 points against. We’ve been defending well apart from week one - we’ve been really gritty with our D, I would say, every week. So that’s not sort of an outlier today. I think we’re becoming that team that can be a gritty defensive side. I think the 50, people would associate 50 with this team and not 10 against with this team. But we’re changing our stripes, if you like, and we’re becoming a grittier defensive footy side.”
The win marked a clear turning point for a squad Hannay has repeatedly described as a “different team” to the one that struggled through 2024. The new coach has made belief and consistency central themes since taking charge - and Sunday’s rout may just be proof the message is sinking in.
"We’re really clear this is a different team to what they were last year or any other year. I’ve never been here before and we’re on a different journey, you know. So they do a really good job of not hanging on to stuff and we talk about that a lot," he continued.
"And that’ll be the message out of this, we can’t hang on to this, right? We’ve got to move forward and play New Zealand over in New Zealand in six days’ time. So yeah, we know what we’re about and what we’re trying to become, and although we haven’t won as many games as we would have liked to this point, we’ve seen the type of team we want to be and who we want to become.”
Hannay was particularly proud of fullback Keano Kini.
"Not surprised at all. And you know he’s played 30 games, so I said this to the kid during the week - I hate to tell this to you but you’re going to have more bad days in front of you. Like, it’s all in front of him. What he’s going through at the moment, he’s had a couple of games where he wasn’t at his absolute best, but I don’t know if you’re watching footy at the moment, there’s a lot of fullbacks under a lot of pressure with the high ball. So he’s not the only one.
"You watch every game at the moment, the way the game’s being played, every fullback is earning their pay. That’s just the way the game is currently. He’s no different, but today doesn’t surprise any of us.”
While the comprehensive win lifts morale, Hannay was quick to shut down any sense of complacency ahead of next week’s trip.
"We got the win today but I think there’s been a consistency of behaviour and performance for five weeks now," Hannay said.
"We could have easily won a couple of other games. The win column could be more positive than what it is. It’s not like we’ve only won two games, right? But that’s not like they’re the only games we’ve been in. There’s a consistency with this team at the moment and we’re pushing for that. If you want to win consistently in this game, you’ve got to perform consistently, and I think we’re getting there.”
