Gold Coast Titans 28–16 New Zealand Warriors — Elimination Final, 2010 NRL Finals Series
10 Sep 2010 · Skilled Park, Robina, Gold Coast, QLD · Attendance: 27,026
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Elimination Final, 2010 NRL finals series: Gold Coast Titans 28–16 New Zealand Warriors, at Skilled Park, Robina, Gold Coast, QLD on 10 Sep 2010.
Sourcing caveat: No try-scoring minutes were found in any source; only the halftime split (22-6) is documented. rugbyleagueproject.org's own scoresheet appeared to only record Zillman's two tries; the fuller five-try list comes from club/fan retrospectives, though the totals reconcile exactly with the final score. This site labels this game an 'Elimination Final' (4v5 pairing) per the structural naming convention used for 2011-2025; rugbyleagueproject.org's own records label all Week 1 games 'Qualifying Final'.
Scorers
| Gold Coast Titans | Tries: William Zillman; William Zillman; Mat Rogers; Clinton Toopi; Kevin Gordon Goals: Scott Prince (4/6 conversions) |
| New Zealand Warriors | Tries: Aaron Heremaia; Joel Moon; Manu Vatuvei Goals: James Maloney (2/3 conversions) |
Team sheets
| Gold Coast Titans | New Zealand Warriors | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | William Zillman | Fullback | Lance Hohaia | 1 |
| 2 | Kevin Gordon | Wing | Kevin Locke | 2 |
| 3 | Steve Michaels | Centre | Brent Tate | 3 |
| 4 | Clinton Toopi | Centre | Joel Moon | 18 |
| 19 | Jordan Atkins | Wing | Manu Vatuvei | 5 |
| 6 | Mat Rogers | Five-Eighth | James Maloney | 6 |
| 7 | Scott Prince (c) | Halfback | Brett Seymour | 7 |
| 8 | Luke Bailey | Prop | Sam Rapira | 8 |
| 9 | Nathan Friend | Hooker | Aaron Heremaia | 9 |
| 10 | Anthony Laffranchi | Prop | Russell Packer | 10 |
| 11 | Greg Bird | Second Row | Simon Mannering (c) | 11 |
| 12 | Mark Minichiello | Second Row | Lewis Brown | 12 |
| 13 | Ashley Harrison | Lock | Micheal Luck | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Michael Henderson | Ben Matulino | 15 | |
| 15 | Brad Meyers | Ukuma Ta'ai | 16 | |
| 16 | Matthew White | Jacob Lillyman | 17 | |
| 17 | Bodene Thompson | Sione Lousi | 20 | |
| John Cartwright | Coach | Ivan Cleary | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Tony Archer |
Match report
Gold Coast's maiden finals appearance in only their third season delivered an emphatic result, as the Titans blitzed the higher-seeded New Zealand Warriors 28-16 in front of their biggest crowd of the season at Skilled Park. Coach John Cartwright's side came out firing, racing to a commanding 22-6 halftime lead built on a William Zillman double at fullback plus tries to Mat Rogers and ex-Warrior Clinton Toopi, with Scott Prince controlling the game from halfback. The Warriors, who had finished the regular season inside the top four, faced sudden elimination unless they could mount a comeback. Joel Moon and Manu Vatuvei crossed early in the second half to close the margin, with Vatuvei's try taking him past Stacey Jones as the Warriors' all-time leading try-scorer. But Gold Coast steadied, with Kevin Gordon adding a fifth try to put the game out of reach. The win sent the Titans through to a home preliminary final, where they would ultimately lose to Sydney Roosters, and ended New Zealand's season.