Asked about speculation surrounding his future at the club, Hasler replied: “They’re just whispers, mate. Rumours, innuendo.”
Parramatta coach Jason Ryles was naturally in a more upbeat mood, although he insisted he was unaware of his team’s position on the ladder and had not discussed the matter with his players.
Chris Randall makes a break for Gold Coast against Parramatta.Credit: Getty Images
“I don’t check the ladder and I don’t check social media,” he said. “Generally all we’re worried about is how we’re going to get better every single day so that we can go out and perform well on the weekend. That’s our focus.”
He admitted, however, it was nice not to be last. “Yeah, it’s good. Last sucks.”
In front of a surprisingly vocal crowd of 8074 diehards, the Titans drew first blood, but Parramatta led 18-16 at the end of a fluctuating first half.
Loading
Gold Coast prop Jaimin Joliffe opened the scoring after only two minutes when he burst onto a Kieran Foran short ball and surged straight through the middle of the ruck.
The home team – minus starting halves Mitchell Moses (injured) and Dylan Brown (suspended) – responded 10 minutes later, keeping the ball alive through multiple sets of hands before centre Sean Russell scored in the corner.
The Eels doubled down four minutes later when hooker Joey Lussick burrowed over from dummy-half, then soon afterwards bench forward Charlie Guymer was on the spot to toe the ball ahead and regather after Titans fullback AJ Brimson spilled a towering Dean Hawkins bomb.
NSW winger Zac Lomax converted all three tries to give the Eels an 18-6 lead.
Adding to Gold Coast’s woes, halfback Jayden Campbell was dazed in a tackle and failed his head-injury assessment, ruling him out of the game. That meant they were not only down a playmaker, but a goalkicker, leaving back-rower Beau Fermor to take the conversion attempts.
Just when the Titans appeared to be ripe for the taking, they hit back with a stepping, weaving try from second-rower Chris Randall.
Six minutes later, prolific try poacher Alofiana Khan-Pereira latched onto an intercept and raced 90 metres to score his 53rd try in 52 NRL appearances.
That ensured the match was in the balance at the interval.
Loading
Parramatta extended their lead nine minutes after the break when exciting fullback Isaiah Iongi grubbered ahead and the ball hit the goalpost padding, allowing Hawkins to dive on it and score.
But a second Khan-Pereira try in the 63rd minute, after Foran and Brimson combined, lifted the visitors back within four points.
Some Lomax magic in the 67th minute restored Parramatta’s advantage. Chasing a Hawkins bomb, he flew high to catch it cleanly and then threw a basketball pass that centre Will Penisini gratefully accepted to score.
Four minutes later, Penisini supported a Hawkins break and slid over for his second try in quick succession.
That left the Titans with 10 minutes to chase a 16-point deficit, a task that was always going to be beyond them.
Penisini ended a strong game on a disappointing note when he was sin-binned and placed on report for a dangerous throw in the 78th minute.
NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now
Michael Chammas and Andrew “Joey” Johns dissect the upcoming NRL round, plus the latest footy news, results and analysis. Sign up for the Sin Bin newsletter.
