Gold Coast have put their off-field woes to one side to claim an impressive 26-18 NRL win over Queensland rivals Brisbane.
The Titans headed to Brisbane with million-dollar halfback Ash Taylor unavailable due to personal issues, recruit Tyrone Peachey reportedly seeking a move back to Penrith and coach Garth Brennan facing speculation over his immediate future.
In reply, they took advantage of an undermanned Brisbane line-up on Sunday afternoon in front of 30,048 fans at Suncorp Stadium.
Centre Brian Kelly nabbed a double for the visitors while captain Tyrone Roberts was sensational, scoring 14 points including a solo try in the first half.
Brennan was happy with how his team responded after issuing some home truths during the week.
"I see how hard they've been hurting after a loss in the sheds. Last week was a tough one, we nearly grabbed it at the end and they were hurting at the end of the game last week," Brennan said.
"I basically said that, enough's enough, drew a bit of a line in the sand. We need to start putting the effort in and working a bit harder for each other. Doing whatever it takes to grind out a win.
"It wasn't pretty ... just go out there grind and scrap and do whatever you need to do to try and get the win."
With State of Origin representatives Joe Ofahengaue (knee), Corey Oates (hip) and Matt Gillett (rested) all missing, the last thing the Broncos needed was further disruption to their line-up.
With less than five minutes played however, young halfback Tom Dearden rolled an ankle and limped off the field.
That forced Anthony Seibold to throw on hooker Andrew McCullough much earlier than he'd hoped in his return from a knee injury, with Jake Turpin shifting to halfback.
Turpin performed admirably in the unfamiliar position, scoring the Broncos only try of the first half but four-pointers to Kelly, Roberts and Anthony Don had the visitors ahead 18-6 at the break.
A penalty goal and Kelly's second try pushed that score out to 26-6 before late tries to Kotoni Staggs and Anthony Milford added some gloss to the scoreline for the Broncos.
"We believe that we had a group that could get the job done today ... we had a real focus on starting the game with a lot of energy and intent and I just thought we were beaten in those early stages," Seibold said.
"I just thought the Titans ran a little bit harder than us.
"That was the game in a nutshell really."
Dearden will have scans on his ankle on Monday with Seibold admitting the 18-year-old is probably facing at least a couple of weeks on the sidelines.
It leaves the Broncos coach weighing up whether to reintroduce McCullough to his starting lineup for Saturday's clash with Parramatta with Turpin moving to No.7 or calling up Sean O'Sullivan from the reserves.
The Titans came through the match unscathed and will now turn their attentions to backing up their performance on Friday against the Warriors at Cbus Super Stadium.
