Analysis: With their season entering the home straight and threatening to stall as it had last year, the NZ Warriors have produced the biggest win of their season to keep hopes of a home playoff alive.

After a listless defeat to Canterbury Bulldogs last week, they turned up to their second home of Cbus Super Stadium - where they lost by 60 points only two years ago - to dismantle the Gold Coast Titans 42-6 on Saturday night.

That equalled the most points scored by the Warriors in 38 meetings between the two clubs and also their highest score this season, matching their output against Sydney Roosters in the opening round and Brisbane Broncos at 'Magic Round'.

It also beat their 40-6 win over Canberra Raiders in week two for their biggest margin of the campaign.

"What we wanted to do, we certainly did for big parts," reflected coach Andrew Webster. "Wasn't perfect, but it's not going to be.

"We always leave with work-ons, but we nailed the things we wanted to do and that was eliminate fast starts, and we looked good.

"The last eight minutes, we probably could have been more ruthless. We obviously saw a lot of opportunities, wanted to score and went away from what was working for us, but happy."

Here's what we learnt from the Warriors win over the Titans.

Best players

In 2024, wing Alofiana Khan-Pereira feasted on the Warriors, scoring four tries in that 66-6 embarrassment.

Now on the other side of the field, AKP reminded the Titans what they had let slip through their fingers, with a first half that saw him cut infield for a try, break from his own half for an assist to five-eighth Chanel Harris-Tavita and then offload for another to new centre partner Leka Halasima.

That pairing mixed it up on that edge, with Khan-Pereira often coming infield to take an early touch, which led to the Harris-Tavita try.

Wing Dallin Watene-Zelezniak showed his intent early with an intercept that regained the league lead in that statistical category.

Although he was cut down by fullback Keano Kini in cover defence a few minutes later, he found the right corner for the game's opening try and his 77th for the Warriors, tying assistant coach Stacey Jones for third on the club all-time list. He also topped 200 metres running.

Hooker Wayde Egan showed his craftiness, luring defenders into set restarts time and again, directly leading to Eddie Ieremia-Toeava's try.

After a shocker seven days before, when he was pulled early, second-rower Jacob Laban returned with another powerful display that produced 146 metres running and a team-high 39 tackles.

Erin Clark's recent form has somewhat reflected his team's, but the 2025 Dally M Lock of the Year returned to his best with his ball distribution on point. He provided the final pass for Te Maire Martin's first try.

If there was any temptation to bring Luke Metcalf into the line-up, Martin has surely muted that with his double, and canny option-taking that laid on Laban's try.

Ieremia-Toeava had his best first-grade performance, running for 191 metres and making 35 tackles, while Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad continued to knock on the door of a regular starting spot, leading the game in running metres (245) and saving several tries with last-ditch heroics.

Best try

About 10 minutes before halftime, Laban made a halfbreak and threatened to score himself. His fast play-the-ball saw Martin look right, then pass left, before former halfback, now lock Erin Clark put up a perfect kick to his left edge.

Khan-Pereira leapt high for a catch and offload to Halasima, who powered through the Titans defenders, still trying to comprehend what they had just seen, to score.

"We're never going to hear the end of that," Webster rolled his eyes.

Remember, this came a week after front-rower Mitch Barnett chipped ahead on the last tackle for five-eighth Chanel Harris-Tavita to score against the Bulldogs.

You can't afford to sleep on the Warriors middle forwards - nor their edge forwards for that matter.

With Taine Tuaupiki and Adam Pompey out of the line-up, Laban was entrusted with kickoff duties.

Key moment

Late in the first half, the Warriors led 20-6, but the Titans were hot on attack with a new set restart metres out from the tryline.

Six points right then would have brought the home side back within single figures and kept them in the contest.

Instead, as they shifted right in front of the posts, Josh Patston could not take a hot pass and bobbled the ball directly into the hands of Tanner Stowers-Smith.

The front-rower rumbled 60 metres upfield and over halfway, bumping off Kini in the process.

The set ended with Halasima unable to claim a high kick to the corner and Nicoll-Klokstad was subsequently held up over the line, before Clark's bomb for Laban's try.

Instead of closing within 10, the Titans trailed by 20 at the break - and the Warriors don't lose from there.

Key stat

The Warriors have now won 10/10 when leading at halftime this season.

Injuries etc

Before kickoff, Webster pulled a fast one, switching Halasima into centre for Adam Pompey.

The coach insists he doesn't follow social media, but the keyboard coaches have been calling for Pompey's head for a few weeks now and they finally got it.

Whether that's a long-term fix - and Halasima certainly did enough to retain the job - or is just a ploy to get Rocco Berry another week of reps in his injury comeback remains to be seen.

The Warriors also lost the services of interchange forward Demitric Vaimauga and his power off the bench to a rib injury at captain's run, but his absence left the door open for Riley Price's surprise club debut and a piece of history.

Price and dad Steve, who captained the club for 91 games from 2005-09, became the organisation's first father-son representatives, beating out the Clearys and the Mellars.

Barnett left for a concussion check, but passed and returned before halftime.

Martin sat out the final moments of the game, but by then, Webster had pulled his veterans, so that early exit may have been a precaution.

Webster also offered that Vaimauga should be good to go next week.

Titans

After back-to-back wins and in their captain's 100th game for the club, Gold Coast never really fired a shot and still seem a long way from escaping the bottom half of the competition table.

They also suffered a cruel blow, when promising half Zane Harrison limped off with a hamstring injury late in the game.

Centurion Tino Fa'asuamaleaui was probably their best, running for 172 metres, including 75 after contact, and making 29 tackles, but was reduced to exchanging taunts with Watene-Zelezniak, who had a one-sided scoreboard to point at in his defence.

What does the result mean

The Warriors at least retain their third spot on the points table and restore some of the valuable points differential advantage over their rivals that had been whittled away in recent weeks.

They are four points behind the Panthers and two behind Sydney Roosters, who may be the form team of the competition right now.

The Warriors currently need three more wins to mathematically clinch their playoff spot, although their differential means maybe just two, but they will still have eyes on a top-four position and a home playoff.

Those two things hang in the balance.

What's next

Two months ago, the Warriors went toe to toe with a Panthers outfit at CommBank Stadium, eventually bowing 20-18 in an encounter of such high quality, many commentators described as a preview of the grand final.

They combined for 91 percent set completion and the result barely dented the Warriors' standing on the table.

Since then, both teams have hit mid-season blues, both going 3-3 into this weekend, as teams around them surge.

Both scored convincing wins this week and will want to keep that momentum into the final weeks of the regular season.

Its Indigenous Round and former Penrith star James Fisher-Harris - now Warriors co-captain - can't wait.

"Pretty keen to play in that jersey, it looks pretty nice" he admitted. "Another great challenge and good to be back home."

The five-game run to the post-season looked pretty daunting a few weeks ago, when the Panthers, Broncos, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Newcastle Knights and Manly Sea Eagles had a combined 46-33 record.

Since Round 18, the Broncos, Knights and Sea Eagles have fallen away somewhat, going 2-8.