A first-half double from William Zillman set up the Gold Coast Titans first ever semi-final victory – a sapping 28-16 win over the New Zealand Warriors at Skilled Park on Friday night.

It was a case of Preston who for the Titans and their fans as Zillman, standing in at full-back for the injured Campbell, cut the Warriors to shreds in a blistering performance.

The visitors powered their way back into the match after trailing 22-6 at half-time but the Titans remained calm, showing all the class of a seasoned outfit to stay in front on the scoreboard.

A high-intensity, high-class match saw some of the biggest collisions of the year – first it was Sam Rapira and Russel Packer bruising in attack and defence and later Brad Meyers reeled off a series of bone rattlers on Manu Vatuvei who kept coming back for more.

Mark Minichiello proved an absolute handful for the visitors, while his new mate in the back-row, Greg Bird, copped heavy treatment from the aggressive Warriors throughout.

The Titans’ fortress was packed for the opening preliminary final of 2010 but if there weren’t as many Kiwi fans as Gold Coasters, the mob from across the ditch were certainly louder.

The power of the giant Warriors side put the Titans on the backfoot early with Rapira and Packer steamrolling through the centre of the ruck. And making the most of his big men’s second-phase play, crafty hooker Aaron Heremaia opened the scoring with the first try after just seven minutes.

But a composed Gold Coast outfit bided its time and came storming back into the match as the interchanges rang in.

Zillman’s first came off the back of a deft Prince grubber which sat up just in time for the former Raider to ground it inches inside the dead-ball line.

Former Warrior Clinton Toopi grabbed the next try of a Jordan Atkins bat-back and five minutes later Zillman grabbed his second – a superb individual effort beating three and spinning away from a fourth to open an 18-6 lead.

Two minutes later Rogers was denied a four-pointer when he forced a ball loose on winger Kevin Locke and appeared to score, but the Titans were awarded the scrum feed and at the next ruck Prince threw an out-ball to Bird who in-turn threw an in-ball for Rogers to legitimise and make it 22-6 at the break.

Mistakes from Zillman and Rogers allowed the Warriors back into the match post oranges, but it was no coincidence that the surge came with a fresh Rapira and Packer back in the action.

Two big spreads to the left saw Joel Moon – late replacement for Jerome Ropati - and Vatuvei crash over for four-pointer as the warriors trimmed the gap to eight.

But the Titans flew down the other end of the park to exterminate the comeback – stretching to their extreme left for Kevin Gordon to score his obligatory try.

The result earns the Titans a second home semi-final, while the fate of the Warriors hangs with top three teams, St George- Illawarra, Penrith and Wests, two of which must win their preliminary finals to keep the Warriors season alive.

Gold Coast Titans: 28 (Zillman 2, Toopi, Rogers, Gordon tries; Prince 4 goals)
New Zealand Warriors 16 (Heremaia, Moon, Vatuvei tries; Maloney 2 goals)

Skilled Park, Robina. Crowd: 27,026.