The Brisbane Broncos have been defeated 36-34 by the Titans in front of a sellout 42,221 crowd at Suncorp Stadium.
Playing in their Indigenous Round jerseys fullback Reece Walsh and prop Payne Haas were standouts for the Broncos side.
Brisbane were forced to withstand a strong Titans opening with Walsh producing a try-saving tackle before he got the ball in hand in the next set and turned on the jets with his first touch and speared through the defence on the left before finding Ezra Mam.
The five-eighth was cut down short of the line but in the ensuing set Payne Haas rumbled onto a lovely short ball from Billy Walters to score next to the posts in the 4th minute for a 6-0 lead.
The visitors hit back through Tony Francis in the 12th minute but Brisbane were back in front soon enough when Walsh again showed speed on the left edge and Josiah Karapani was released on a brilliant stepping run that saw him beat three players over 30 metres before offloading to winger Oates.
Oates dived over in the left corner to score his 121st try for the club and move into 3rd on the all-time tryscorers list for the Broncos. Madden converted from the sideline for a 12-6 lead after 19 minutes.
Two minutes later and the home side skipped further ahead when Selwyn Cobbo leapt high to catch a Madden bomb before finding Ezra Mam who popped a kick over to Deine Mariner on the right, only for the winger to be tackled without the ball and awarded a penalty try.
Madden converted from the touchline to push the lead to 18-6 after 21 minutes but again the Titans edged back into the contest when Beau Fermor scored in the 26th minute.
The game flowed from end-to-end for the next 10 minutes before that man Walsh crafted a sweet short pass on the out to a barnstorming Brendan Piakura for a try on the left edge and a 24-12 lead in the 37th minute with Madden’s conversion.
Erin Clark scored from close range on the stroke of halftime to cut into the Broncos lead making it 24-16 at halftime and the visitors were back within two shortly after the break when Chris Randall crossed on the right in the 48th minute.
The Titans were back in the game and pressing hard for another try in the 52nd minute when Mam plucked an attacking kick out of mid-air and sped away 90 metres to score under the posts to push his team back out to a 30-22 lead with 25 minutes remaining.
Brisbane managed to waste a great try-scoring opportunity on the left and the Gold Coast hit back again when Keenan Palasia crossed for a try in the 60th minute to reduce the margin back to two points, and then went ahead 32-30 with 15 minutes to go with a try out wide to Brian Kelly.
The Broncos gave their fans hope with a try to Cobbo through good hands down the right with six minutes remaining. Madden just missing the sideline conversion attempt to leave his side trailing 36-34 with five minutes on the clock.
