Waiting for them in the season six decider will be the TAE Aerospace Ipswich Jets, a side the Titans lost to by just three points in the major semi-final a fortnight ago.
Gold Coast took advantage of their second attempt to go all the way with a slightly superior start to hold a 13-11 lead over the Thunder at the first break.
It was marred somewhat by 21 penalties to the Titans, low centre pass conversion rates and a shared total of 19 turnovers.
The margin extended to four points at one stage in the second quarter, but the Thunder wouldn't go away and managed to draw level at 23-23 by half-time.
Physicality continued to impact the game with almost 70 penalties recorded across the first 30 minutes of netball.
The introduction of regular Ruby Series player Roxy Rhind proved again pivotal to the Titans’ momentum, as their lead opened up to three points (40-37) at three-quarter time.
Thunder’s solid entry to the last 15 minutes closed the margin to 40-40, but the Titans responded to push ahead by as many as seven points before two-point time.
A battle of long shots saw the difference reduce again to three points yet it was a determined Titans, competing in only their third HART Sapphire Series season, who held on to book a ticket to the premiership game.
It means the end of the line in 2024 for Thunder coach Simone Nalatu and her crop of potential Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) stars.
“I am extremely proud of the way the girls played,” Nalatu said.
“It was a great game and a hard lesson for some of our younger players, that you can play well and still not come away with the result. It came down to critical moments and to the Titans’ credit, they were better in those moments than us.”
It’ll be double the excitement for the Titans at Nissan Arena this Sunday, as the Gold Coast franchise will also feature in the earlier Ruby Series grand final.
The coast’s Ruby team managed to secure a place in the upcoming decider against the Carina Leagues Club Tigers with a heart-stopping 61-60 preliminary final victory over the ACU Brisbane North Cougars.
Gold Coast Titans CEO Steve Mitchell said their success reflected three seasons of hard work and the program’s growth towards SSN level.
“I think the opportunity to actually build everything pathways, keep your frameworks right, understand the administration, your coaching staff, high performance staff that sit beside that, build your socials and your marketing and your narrative like you’re a Super side gives you a chance to build all your frameworks ahead of time so that when we do lift into a Super side we’ve got everything in place and we know what sits there,” he said.
The 2024 HART Sapphire Series and 2024 Ruby Series will be available to watch live on KommunityTV from 4pm on Sunday, August 4.
Grand final tickets are on sale now and include access to the Queensland Suns M-League grand final at 2pm, before the Ruby Series (4pm) and HART Sapphire Series (6pm) grand finals commence.
