Gold Coast Titans' captain Georgia Hale and head coach Karyn Murphy have reflected with pride on a landmark season for the Titans NRLW side, despite falling short against Brisbane on Sunday.
The Titans were beaten 20-8 by the Broncos in the NRLW Preliminary Final at Cbus Super Stadium, ending a campaign which saw the Gold Coast finish second in the regular season and break a number of records along the way.
A bumper crowd of 7,372 packed into Cbus Super Stadium for the NRLW clash, setting a new record for the biggest standalone crowd for an NRLW match on the Gold Coast.
While the result was not what the Titans had hoped for, Murphy was proud of the way her young side responded after a difficult opening to the contest, particularly after losing Sienna Lofipo to injury early in the match.
“We've been so good all season on the starts of matches, and to give away a few of those penalties as well and you're giving that sort of opportunity (to the Broncos), they're going to hurt you and they did,” Murphy said.
“But super proud after that, losing Sienna, who does a lot of that ball playing through our middle third. We had to adjust and it may not have been too pretty there in the second half, but that's what I'm super proud of (winning the second half).
“The second half and just the fight in them and the effort to keep going right through to the siren, that's what they're about and what I'm really proud of.”
The Titans entered the season with a relatively inexperienced squad, with Murphy highlighting the lessons Sunday's high-pressure contest will provide for a group she believes has a bright future.
“We've got a lot of young players in there and some valuable lessons learned today,” she said.
“There's such a bright future here. To get where we did today, they're a very experienced football team on the other side, the Broncos.
Captain Georgia Hale echoed her coach's sentiments, admitting the disappointment of falling short will hurt, but insisting the experience will ultimately form part of the club's growth.
“I wouldn't choose to play with any other club, and these girls mean so much to me,” Hale said.
“I know the best is yet to come. We've shown signs of that across the season and I've been really proud of that, proud of the way we've turned out.
“We've been gritty, we've been polished in moments, but then we did today let ourselves down a little bit there. I know that's not us.
“I'm just excited for what's to come (for this team).
For Hale, the loss will take some time to process, particularly given the team's premiership ambition from the beginning of the campaign.
“It should hurt. It's disappointing,” she said.
“We came out here with a job to do today. We had premiership in the back of our mind day one of pre-season and we've been building towards that.
“So we're not going to shy away. We're going to come back bigger and better.”
The Titans' campaign has marked another significant step forward for the club's NRLW program, with a young playing group gaining invaluable experience on the game's biggest stages and building a strong connection with the Gold Coast community.
For Hale, the disappointment of Sunday's result is already being viewed through the lens of what this group can achieve in the years ahead.
“Our average age is probably 20,” Hale said.
“These girls are going to be in a jersey for 10 years plus. It's really just the starting point and I'm sure this early experience for them is going to add to what's to come.
“It's about sitting in it for a moment and then turning the loss into a learning and building towards the next 10 years to come.”
