A Ben Hunt masterclass helped Brisbane deliver a finals statement on Saturday night, the premiership aspirants casting aside the Gold Coast in a 54-0 drubbing.
Doubt the Broncos would not cope without injured hooker Andrew McCullough was cast aside, Hunt filling the void expertly to hand the Titans their biggest NRL loss and ease Brisbane back into fourth.
Starting from the bench, Hunt scored twice inside 25 minutes of his introduction, set up an Anthony Milford try with a clever short kick and split the defence to race away for his hat-trick midway through the second half.
The St George Illawarra-bound utility broke the line again to set up Corey Oates for another long-range effort to make it 42-0 after 67 minutes.
When Kodi Nikorima picked up a loose ball and sprinted 95 metres to score, it pushed the hiding out to a record-breaking margin.
"Not having Andrew there it's nice to see what they did tonight," Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett said.
"That's what he (Hunt) brings. That's what we want. He's a threat there. Kodi's a threat, Darius, Milford. We're going to have you under a fair bit of pressure if we defend well.
"But it's still a work in progress there. There's a lot more tougher teams than we played tonight in front of us and we'll be challenged."
A healthy crowd of 21,716 were witness to a Broncos side at their most ruthless, Joe Ofahengaue joining the action with a masterful flick pass to gift James Roberts a try against his former club.
The Titans could manage just four points against Wests Tigers last weekend and looked no better against the Broncos.
"It's embarrassing. It's disappointing. It's all those sorts of words and it's a tough place to be in at the moment," Titans coach Neil Henry said.
"Overall it's a good old-fashioned flogging; there's no way to sugar coat that performance."
Gold Coast skipper Ryan James vented his frustration in the second half, squaring up to Roberts in a sideline scuffle.
Roberts appeared to land a punch, but somehow avoided the ire of the officials. James opted not to comment on the scuffle after the game, instead simply saying the Broncos had made them "look like idiots".
Ofahengaue was placed on report for a spear tackle on Kane Elgey.
Gold Coast halfback Ashley Taylor came in for heavy treatment and was never a factor.
He limped off late in the game with a knee injury and could miss one week, according to Henry.
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