NRL Round 2 Preview - Warriors v Titans @ Mount Smart Stadium

New Zealand Warriors v Gold Coast Titans @ Mount Smart Stadium 
 
Preview - The Warriors and Titans lock horns at Mount Smart Stadium on Saturday, with both Clubs looking to make it back-to-back wins to start season 2018. The Warriors finally broke through for victory in Perth at the 10th attempt, with a dominant 36-18 victory over the Rabbitohs on Saturday night. The Titans were the houdini side of Round 1, coming from 18-0 down after 15 minutes and 24-6 down before halftime, to surge home and beat the Raiders 30-28 at CBUS Super Stadium. 
 
History - The Warriors have an unbelievably dominant record against the Titans winning 13 from the past 14 clashes.  Last season they won both games 34-12 on the Gold Coast and 28-22 at Mount Smart Stadium. 
 
New Zealand Warriors’ Scouting Report - The Warriors have named an unchanged squad from the side that was so impressive last week against the Rabbitohs.  Blake Green had a great debut, whilst Shaun Johnson and Issac Luke showed, when at their best, they remain huge threats with the football in hand.
 
Gold Coast Titans’ Scouting Report - The Titans have named an unchanged line-up from the side that came from the clips last week. Ash Taylor, fresh off re-signing for 4 years in the off-season, put in a mesmeric performance, setting up 4 tries, with Kane Elgey his halves partner also performing strongly. 
 
Verdict - Titans by 1-12 in a high scoring game
 
The Titans have a horrible record against the Warriors, so I’m taking a bit of a punt here. However, I just trust them a little bit more to back up a solid performance. The Warriors probably deserve slight favouritism being back at home, however I need to see a few consistent performances from them defensively before I start falling into this side. I expect this game to be high scoring, with both sides scoring more than 20 points, as these sides have traditionally always put on entertaining affairs. I just favour the Titans as I think they might show a little bit more resolve and composure if the game gets tight, which I expect it will.