Prince inspires Titans win over Raiders
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 on Saturday night.
Just hours after angry Titans boss Michael Searle fired back an emphatic denial of an alleged salary cap breach involving the 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 $400,000 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.
Raiders coach David Furner revealed after the match hooker Travis Waddell had suffered a broken jaw in an incident that he was not happy about.
Furner said he only caught a glimpse of the challenge, but said there was some contact.
"All I know is I've got a young player with a broken jaw and something hit him," Furner said.
While Furner was not happy with the hit on Waddell, Titans coach John Cartwright said he hoped prop Luke Bailey would get the benefit of the doubt after being put on report for a tripping incident in the 33rd minute involving Raiders lock Shaun Fensom.
"I think he got caught off balance, I hope nothing comes of it" said Cartwright.
Prince fronted the post match press conference with his right hand encased in ice.
"I bumped it in the first half," said Prince.
"The doc took a look at it at half time and said it was okay to go back out.
"I've iced up the swelling and it feels alright."
Both Prince and Cartwright said that salary cap revelations which had surfaced had not disrupted preparations.
"We spoke about today (Saturday) for one minute and moved on," said Cartwright.
"It's an allegation at the moment with not much basis."
While Furner was not happy with the hit on Waddell, Titans coach John Cartwright said he hoped prop Luke Bailey would get the benefit of the doubt after being put on report for a tripping incident in the 33rd minute involving Raiders lock Shaun Fensom.
"I think he got caught off balance, I hope nothing comes of it" said Cartwright.
Prince fronted the post match press conference with his right hand encased in ice. "I bumped it in the first half," said Prince.
"The doc took a look at it at half time and said it was okay to go back out. I've iced up the swelling and it feels alright."
Both Prince and Cartwright said the salary cap revelations which surfaced had not disrupted preparations.
"We spoke about today (Saturday) for one minute and moved on," said Cartwright. "It's an allegation at the moment with not much basis."
Post a comment about this article
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.