Legendary half-back Cooper Cronk has urged the Gold Coast Titans to stick to the formula that allowed David Fifita to terrorise his former club in Friday’s 28-16 victory over the Brisbane Broncos.
The 21-year-old scored two tries in his first outing against the Broncos since joining the Titans on a three-year, $3.5 million deal.
Fifita crossed in the 34th minute when he spun out of the two-man tackle of Tese Niu and Anthony Milford after Tyrone Peachey took the ball to the line.
The hulking back-rower made it a double when Ash Taylor fed him the ball early and he shrugged off a feeble attempted tackle from Milford and overpowered Niu on his way to the tryline.
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It was an emphatic performance from Fifita, who came under fire following a lacklustre debut for his new club in the Round 1 loss to the New Zealand Warriors.
“The two tries he scored tonight is exactly how David Fifita needs to be given the ball,” Cronk told Fox League.
“One, you go to the line and you create one-on-one tackles for him and let him use his footwork, his bump and his pace to outmuscle the opposition.
“Or, you give him early ball and let him use his barnstorming physicality one-on-one with smaller players.
“So (Justin) Holbrook, Ash Taylor, go watch those two tries and watch what Peachey did in terms of a double-pump to create space one-on-one, but then also just give him some early ball and let him do his thing.”
Speaking on Channel 9 post-match, Fifita said his combinations on the Titans’ left edge remain a work in progress
“I think that’s just the start, just building with Ash,” he told Channel 9.
“Ash just gives me the ball and I’ve got good boys outside me who make my job easy.
“We’re slowly getting there but not there yet.”
Fifita left the field with an HIA after a running battle with Tevita Pangai Junior but returned to the fray late in the contest.
“Tevita got me, he’s up 2-0 but I’ll be right,” he joked.
“… He’s my brother, he’s my big brother.”
Meanwhile, Holbrook praised his star recruit’s performance and suggested Fifita was harshly treated by the media following the Warriors clash after spending two days in hospital battling a leg infection.
“I felt sorry for him last week and the criticism he came under, if you’d seen the week that he had you might not have been so tough, but we get judged on the 80 minutes so I’m OK with that,” Holbrook said.
“But I’m just happy for him that he had a really good week and then showed what he’s capable of tonight, so I’m really happy for Dave.”
