By PETER ROWE
Coach Lewis Samuels was a happy man on Saturday evening after his Titans recorded their first ever Fuel to Go & Play Premiership win, with gusty 34 points to 18 win over fellow newcomers Ellenbrook.
Led superbly by co-captain Ben Russell and Tyrell West the Titans came out of the sheds fired up and ready for their first home game of the seasoning quickly jumping to an early lead thanks to Russell himself.
Samuels added another, then Russell again as the Titans controlled the game, leading 16-4 at the break.
“We had to knuckle down in the second half as Ellenbrook came back at us, but we stuck to the process and got the two points,” Samuels said.
Murray Kopa and winger Simon Gillett added more as the home side thwarted any comeback from the visitors.
Hooker Cordelle Dunnicliffe stood out in defence, a “tackle machine” Samuels said in game that lifted the gloom of two previous heavy defeats.
“A great confidence booster for sure,” Samuels said.
“We’ve put a lot of hard work into getting here, so yes, there were a lot of happy faces after the game.”
For Ellenbrook coach Dan Manning it was three steps back from the progress he had seen from his side in recent weeks.
“Too many mistakes,” he said. It just wasn’t up to our standards at all.
“They came out fired up and jumped to a good lad before we could score. Then they hit us with a double and we didn’t respond.
“More negatives than positives for sure. A couple of forwards stood up, but we need more form our edge players.
Manning called out fullback Rob Lake, centre Carlos Kata and second rower Joey Annan as his best on field, but knows overall they have to improve.
“We need to get back on the bike and go again.”