NRL: Pack mentality helps Roosters

Anthony Minichiello of the Roosters in action against the Titans. Photo / Getty Images

Titans 12
Roosters 18

The Roosters backed up last week's win over the Warriors with an 18-12 win over the struggling Titans on the Gold Coast last night.

Based around another aggressive showing from their pack, the Roosters overpowered the Titans for back-to-back wins for the first time this season.

The match was a fairly dour affair, with neither side playing a brand of football that would cause any of the top sides to sit up and take notice. The performance of some individuals will please Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney, however, with a number of would-be test selections further pushing their case ahead of the one-off test against the Kangaroos at the end of the month.

Forwards Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Frank-Paul Nuuausala backed up their physical domination of the Warriors with another good performance, giving both of them a good case for test selection in a couple of weeks.

Test certainties Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Sam Perrett did nothing to damage their selections either and should be key players in the test at Eden Park.

Kenny-Dowall underlined his world-class ability with some fancy footwork to score the opening try of the night and is getting back to his best form at just the right time. His second try put the Roosters back in front after a good period of play by the home side and he was easily the most dangerous player on the park all night.

The Titans got some good news during the week with the sale of their Centre of Excellence easing the financial pressure swirling around the club's future. They looked a much more competitive side this week despite not getting a lot of 50-50 calls from the officials early on.

Prize recruit Jamal Idris made his long-awaited return from injury. He looked short of a gallop but showed glimpses of his talent at both ends of the park. Like the rest of the team, Idris should get better in the coming weeks with greater certainty around the club's future.

Two other Titans returning from injury impressed - wingers David Mead and Kevin Gordon were stand-out players during the 2010 season when the club made the finals. Gordon missed all of 2011 with a knee injury while Mead missed the first month of this season. Both players are good finishers and provide the Titans with plenty of speed on the flanks, should their team-mates get them enough ball.

With 25 minutes to play, the Roosters struck twice in a couple of moments to break the stalemate and kicked clear to collect successive wins and cement their position inside the top eight.

Titans 12 (D. Mead 2 tries, S Prince 2 goals), Roosters 18 (S. Kenny-Dowall 2, A. Minichiello tries, B. Anasta 3 goals). Halftime: 6-6.