THE RIVALRY: WARRIORS V TITANS
Streaks, finals matches and club records have characterised these long-suffering clubs' two-decade history.
Gold Coast Titans’ early and recent periods of dominance against the Warriors bookended a decade where the Auckland-based held control of the rivalry. The large Kiwi expat population in southeast Queensland has ensured big crowds whenever the Warriors venture to the Gold Coast, but it didn’t prevent the Titans from inflicting the Warriors’ biggest-ever defeat there in 2024.
Overall record: Played 36 – Warriors won 21, Gold Coast Titans won 15; Warriors scored 821 points, Gold Coast Titans scored 740 points.
Biggest wins: Gold Coast Titans – 66-6 at Cbus Super Stadium, 2024; Warriors – 42-0 at Mount Smart Stadium, 2014.
Longest winning streaks: Warriors – 8 matches (2011-14); Gold Coast Titans – 6 matches (2008-10).
Finals: Played 1 – Gold Coast Titans won 1.
Most appearances: Simon Mannering (Warriors) – 22; Shaun Johnson (Warriors) – 18; Ben Matulino (Warriors) – 18; Manu Vatuvei (Warriors) – 18; Jacob Lillyman (Warriors) – 17; Nathan Friend (Warriors & Gold Coast Titans) – 16; Anthony Don (Gold Coast Titans) – 15; Mark Minichiello (Gold Coast Titans) – 15.
Most tries: Shaun Johnson (Warriors) – 13; Manu Vatuvei (Warriors) – 11; Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (Warriors) – 9; Anthony Don (Gold Coast Titans) – 8; David Fusitu’a (Warriors) – 8; Konrad Hurrell (Warriors & Gold Coast Titans) – 8; David Mead (Gold Coast Titans) – 7.
Most points: Shaun Johnson (Warriors) – 132; Scott Prince (Gold Coast Titans) – 66; Jayden Campbell (Gold Coast Titans) – 58; James Maloney (Warriors) – 46.
The Auckland Warriors played the previous incarnations of the Gold Coast club three times. A Tea Ropati hat-trick spearheaded a 44-16 romp for the Warriors over the Seagulls at home in 1995, while Stephen Kearney was among the try-scorers in a 28-14 win against the Chargers at Carrara the following season.
A double from Chargers livewire Wes Patten laid the platform for a 31-18 upset for the soon-to-be defunct club during the 1998 NRL season. Lee Oudenryn, David Myles (a future Titan) and Kevin Campion were the only players to line up for the former Gold Coast and the Warriors.
2007-10 – Titans rack up winning streak after initial losses
The Gold Coast Titans produced an admirable debut campaign in the NRL in 2007, but the Warriors chalked up two convincing wins on their way to a top-four berth. A crowd of 17,608 turned out at Carrara Stadium to see the Warriors prevail 22-6 in Round 16, while six weeks later halfback Grant Rovelli notched a hat-trick and Jerome Ropati bagged a double in a 30-6 rout at Mount Smart Stadium.
But the Titans outlasted the Warriors 36-24 early in 2008 in front of a bumper crowd of 25,310 at the newly-opened Skilled Park at Robina. The clubs clashed twice in the second half of the 2009 season, and the high-flying Titans won comfortably at home (28-12) and away (30-10) as the Warriors dipped out of finals contention.
