Titans 24 Raiders 4
GOLD COAST - Scott Prince brushed aside the salary cap dramas of the past 24 hours to inspire Gold Coast to a crushing 24-4 NRL win over an error-riddled Canberra at Skilled Park last night.
Just hours after angry Titans boss Michael Searle fired back an emphatic denial of an
alleged salary cap breach involving their captain, Prince showed why he is such a valuable asset with a masterful performance.
Prince and the Titans are being investigated by NRL's salary cap auditor Ian Schubert over an alleged agreement with one of the club's former sponsors to build him a A$400,000 ($514,580) house for free.
If the allegations were a disruption, Prince wasn't showing it, scoring all the Titans' eight points in the first half before returning to finish the job with two fine kicks which resulted in tries.
The win lifts the Titans to equal first on the NRL ladder alongside the unbeaten Dragons.
Titans wingers David Mead (two) and Kevin Gordon (one) grabbed tries along with massive young centre Joseph Tomane, who coach John Cartwright said before the game was a "talented player with a huge future in the game".
The Titans' outside backs, along with veteran Mat Rogers and ageless fullback Preston Campbell, were far too classy and quick for the fumbling Raiders.
Canberra - still yet to win at Skilled Park - were able to escape with a mountain of errors against Brisbane at home on Monday night.
But they weren't so lucky against a professional outfit which built the pressure with every mistake on the back of Prince's leadership and a forward pack which worked the Raiders over up the middle of the park.
Mead, guilty of blowing a try just before halftime when he backed himself to beat Raiders fullback Josh Dugan instead of using his support runners, almost pulled off a spectacular try 13 minutes into the second half.
The young winger raced onto Prince's kick near the right hand touch line, chipped over his rival winger and regathered to touch down.
Replays however showed his right foot hit the chalk.
The near miss didn't hurt too much with Tomane scoring an acrobatic try a few minutes later try to give the Titans a 14-0 lead.
They stretched that to 18-0 when Gordon scored on the short side and 24-0 when Mead grabbed his second off a Prince kick.
Raiders winger Daniel Vidot scored a consolation try for the well-beaten visitors in the 79th minute.
The Titans were forced to make a last-minute change to their starting side when lock Ashley Harrison injured his back in the pre-game warm up.
Prop Luke Bailey was also put on report for what appeared to be a trip on Raider Shaun Fensom in the first half.
- AAP