Parramatta teenager Sean Russell grabbed a first-half hat-trick but the Eels will be counting the cost of a rib injury to the flyer after their 32-28 NRL win over Gold Coast.
Russell sustained the injury when scoring his third try in front of a crowd of 18,211 at Commbank Stadium on Sunday, leaving coach Brad Arthur sweating over his wing depth.
With Blake Ferguson having left the club in the off-season and fellow wingers Maika Sivo and Haze Dunster out with long-term injuries, the Eels could be caught short on the flanks over the coming weeks.
Gold Coast's 21-year-old halfback Toby Sexton was impressive, setting up two tries after five-eighth AJ Brimson had been ruled out with groin soreness prior to the game.
In a chaotic first half when 48 points were scored, Russell grabbed his first when he received a cutout pass from Clint Gutherson on the left and ran over Titans fullback Jayden Campbell to score.
In an indication of the free scoring to come, the Eels winger grabbed his double just seven minutes into the contest when a Mitchell Moses kick bounced off the posts and was hacked into his path.
Back-rower Shaun Lane increased the Eels' lead when he powered through a gap created by Moses after Phillip Sami had opened the Titans' account down the left.
Gold Coast centre Brian Kelly followed Sami over the stripe on the same side of the field before Waqa Blake responded for the Eels and Russell added his third before succumbing to injury.
The Titans took advantage of the changes to the Eels' backline with Erin Clark crashing over from close range and Kelly adding his second as they went to halftime trailing the Eels 26-24
Sami pushed the Titans back in the lead straight after the interval, this time picking the ball out of Eels debutant Bailey Simonsson's hands and then mocking Gutherson as he celebrated.
After a try every five minutes in the first half, normal service was resumed with a gritty if error-strewn encounter taking place.
Moses nudged three penalties over in the last 15 minutes to take the game out of the Titans' reach.
