NZ Warriors v Gold Coast Titans
Kickoff 7.30pm Saturday, 23 August
Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
Live blog updates on RNZ Sport
Up until now, NZ Warriors lock Erin Clark has been a little reticent to talk about the club's recent struggles against Gold Coast Titans.
After all, during five seasons on the Queensland coast, he has been a big part of that dominance that has seen the struggling Titans somehow win six of their last seven against the Auckland side.
Among those victories were a 66-6 demolition at Cbus Super Stadium in June 2024 and a 44-0 whitewash at the same venue in 2021, when the Warriors were in Covid 19 exile.
Understandably, Clark wasn't keen to remind his current teammates how he inflicted pain on them in another jersey.
"Last season is last season," he insisted, as his team prepared to host the Titans at Go Media Stadium last month.
"I'm a Warrior now and I just want to get one back for the club."
That encounter ended in a 24-16 defeat - the third straight occasion Gold Coast had prevailed, despite sitting bottom of the NRL table - and now Clark has a taste of the frustration.
"That one hurt," he said this week.
"We know what we need to do better - we've reviewed that game and I'm sure we'll be ready for it this week.
"The wound's still weeping. That was a hard one to take, but we're ready to right our wrongs and excited to do it on the Gold Coast."
A month ago, the Warriors seemed well on track for a comfortable victory, when they scored two tries in the opening 10 minutes for a 10-0 lead, but then conceded the next 24 points and could not find a way back.
Afterwards, coach Andrew Webster conceded the Titans had "the wood" on his team.
"It's no secret they've had success against us recently and last year, and it's something we need to clean up this week," Webster re-iterated on Tuesday.
Wayde Egan and the Warriors were on the wrong end of a 60-point massacre at Cbus Super Stadium last year. Photo: NRL Photos
"Everyone knows, while they're no sitting where they want to on the table, they play a really good brand of footy and we have to make sure we're at our best."
Seven days after dispatching the Warriors, the Titans returned home, where they trailed 24-0 at halftime against four-time defending champions Penrith Panthers, but rallied to force extra time, before succumbing 30-26.
"They've a real threat and they've got that fearless attitude at the moment," Webster said.
"I think their style is really exciting. A lot of those performances - barring one, where we got smacked - we've looked like the team on top, but we lost our way and they've capitalised.
"You have to play the whole 80 minutes, because if you take one play off, they absolutely crucify you. I reckon that's been a lot of the reason they've had so much success."
Clark warned not to underestimate Gold Coast just because they were bottom of the table.
"I think people just see where they are on the ladder, but they don't look at the calibre of players they've got," he said.
"They have strikepower across the whole park, they just struggle to put it together sometimes.
"When they put it together, they're a hard team to stop - we just have to turn up defensively and be ready."
One thing is certain - no-one at the Warriors will take Gold Coast lightly, especially at home, after last year's debacle, when the Titans jumped on their guests early and led 30-0 by the break.
"Definitely, but it's a different squad, different team," Webster said of the lingering pain.
"No-one ever likes to remember those days."
Seven of those Warriors players will return to the scene of the crime on Saturday, desperate to make amends.
One of those particularly keen to bury the memory is winger Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, who was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle in the second half and watched the opposition run in three tries during his absence.
Asked if that was the worst result he'd been part of in his rugby league career, the former Dally M Medallist had no hesitation: "Yep, it would be.
"That's something that's been sitting with us for a long time and we definitely wanted to get them back the last time we played them, but we get another chance this week.
"We don't want to keep losing to the Titans, so we need to step up."
Times have change: Erin Clark celebrates the Titans' 2024 Anzac Day win over the Warriors. Photo: NRL Photos
Despite this week's 'away' fixture, the Warriors can expect considerable fan support on the Coast, where thousands of expat Kiwis have made new homes.
Based at the Brisbane suburb of Redcliffe - now home of NRL rivals the Dolphins - during the Covid pandemic, the club has recently announced its intention to create a permanent academy and community programme at Logan, a city situated between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
"I've got lots of mates over there coming out with their Warriors jerseys," Clark confirmed.
"I remember playing there and I swear the Warriors fans came out in their thousands.
"When the Warriors ran out, there was a massive roar, so I can't wait to be on that side of things.
"Warriors get a good crowd everywhere we go and I think we have 5000 people coming to our captain's run, which is pretty special."
Clark enjoyed his time with the Titans, where he transformed from a precocious youngster who had lost his way to a grown man with his head on straight - but this visit is strictly business.
"As cliched as it sounds, you just go there to do a job," he insisted.
"It's easy to get caught up in the lifestyle over there, but we're there to get the two points and come home."
Not even the prospect of escaping Auckland's chilly, wet spring weather can distract him from his mission.
Gametime on the Coast offers 20 degrees celsius and sunshine - back home in Auckland, 11 degrees and rain.
"I love this cold weather," Clark winked.
"I get to cuddle my kids.
"I'm a person who sweats a lot in the sun, so I'd rather be rugged up in the cold, instead of sweating in a singlet."
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