James Tedesco has sent Brad Fittler a reminder of his prowess at the back as he and Latrell Mitchell scored in the Sydney Roosters' 34-14 win over Gold Coast.
With Fittler announcing his first NSW State of Origin squad on Monday, Tedesco was back to his best at Central Coast Stadium as the Roosters came from 14-6 down at the break.
In one of Tedesco's final touches of the ball before his and Tom Trbojevic's race for Blues fullback ends, he broke through the middle to pass six Titans defenders and put Mitchell Aubusson over for the Roosters' final try.
The effort came after he had crossed while chasing a Jake Friend kick out of dummy-half, finishing Saturday's game with more than 170m for the third week running.
"Teddy's been playing really well for us for a long time," Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.
"We're sitting lowest tries against in the competition and the fullback has a lot to do with that.
"He's really organised well and is carrying a lot around the rucks and terrorising around the rucks."
Meanwhile, Mitchell recovered from a first half with minimal ball to score 10 points before being sin-binned late for repeated team infringements.
After Isaac Liu crossed and Mitchell kicked two penalty goals to give the Roosters the lead, the 20-year-old took advantage of a 12-man Titans side when he burst through three defenders to score.
But just as concerning will be the fact it was one of just two runs in the match, a trait that has followed the centre for much of his career.
Cooper Cronk crossed for the Roosters' other second-half try as he plunged Bryce Cartwright into further despair, capitalising on a fumble from the Titan as he chased through on his own kick to score.
Cronk's halves partner, Luke Keary - the other Rooster unsure of his Origin chances - had limited involvement on a mixed day.
He dropped a Mitchell offload as the Roosters appeared set to score in the first half but later had a hand in the centre's try as part of their left-edge combination with NSW captain Boyd Cordner.
For the Titans, Jai Arrow was impressive with 142m in his pursuit of a maiden Queensland jersey but he was again hurt when he copped a blow to the AC joint in his shoulder.
Halfback Ash Taylor was also impressive in the first half, laying on tries for Michael Gordon and Anthony Don before he was sin-binned during the Titans' second-half capitulation.
"He's a quality footballer. He is finding some consistency," Titans coach Garth Brennan said.
"It hurt when we lost him for 10 minutes, there's no doubt about that. They scored two tries in that period."
