The club was then denied two tries in the closing three minutes of the game, with referee Steve Lyons sin-binning Terry Campese for a professional foul on Luke Douglas but not awarding a try and video referee Steve Clark finding an obstruction when Mark Minichiello crossed.
Adding to the club's pain winger David Mead was also forced from the field with a suspected broken jaw.
The Raiders surged to a 12-0 lead by the 20 minute mark when Croker touched down a Jack Wighton bat off a Terry Campese bomb.
The Gold Coast responded by applying plenty of pressure of their own, but three consecutive sets on the Raiders line ended when powerhouse second-rower Josh Papalii put a monster of a hit on Minichiello to knock the ball loose.
The dam wall broke in the 31st minute, though, when Rankin ignored a five-on-two overlap to his outside to dash infield and score under the posts.
Then with the clock winding down before halftime, Peyroux crossed out wide for a converted try to level the scores.
The Raiders had all the possession to start the second half and only some brilliant defence from off-season recruit Nate Myles prevented Shaun Fensom from barging over.
Joel Thompson eventually stole the lead back when he strolled through a yawning gap in the 52nd minute, McCrone adding the extras to open up an 18-12 advantage.
The error and penalty counts continued to soar for the Titans and Croker touched down another Campese bomb in the 68th minute, converting his own try to extend the lead to 24-12.
- AAP
