Gold Coast interim co-coach Terry Matterson admits Titans players are “shattered” after a week to forget ended in NRL defeat to Canterbury on Saturday.
Still reeling from the sacking of coach Neil Henry on Monday, the Titans slumped to a 24-16 defeat against the ruthless Bulldogs in their final home match of an underwhelming 2017 campaign.
It was the Titans’ sixth consecutive loss.
Canterbury’s victory was set up on the back of a dominant first half.
Will Hopoate’s first-half double lifting the visitors to a 20-0 lead at the break.
It’s the fifth week in a row the Titans have been held scoreless in the opening 40 minutes.
“They’re a shattered group at the moment and if we could have got some possession, that gives us field position, you give yourself a chance to score some points,” Matterson said.
“We’re trying to find the easy way out as well.
“Kicking on early plays when their defence was jamming us and we didn’t handle that really well.”
Adding to Gold Coast’s woes, stand-in captain Nathan Peats is almost certain to miss next weekend’s season finale against the Sydney Roosters after injuring his shoulder in the second half.
Centre Dale Copley (groin) also failed to finish the match.
The Titans’ despair was summed up in the dying minutes of the match when young halfback Ash Taylor threw a pass on his tryline straight to Bulldogs centre Josh Morris.
That four-pointer making young Titan Phillip Sami’s late try irrelevant to the result.
It was another underwhelming day for Titans’ fullback Jarryd Hayne, the man under most scrutiny in the wake of Henry’s axing due to a feud between the pair which many feel lead to the coach’s demise.
Hayne did have a hand in Anthony Don’s second-half try with a cross-field bomb but shortly afterward found himself the recipient of Bronx cheers when a drilled kick flew well over the sideline on the full.
The victory was the Bulldogs’ second on the road in a disappointing season.
Skipper James Graham felt it was a result that could give the Dogs momentum heading into the off-season.
“It’s really pleasing these past couple of weeks I guess,” the Englishman said.
“All the excuses are there for us to not turn up but we’re playing for different reasons and really proud of the effort today.
“Because again we were probably on the wrong side of the momentum in the second half and only two or three years ago we came up here in a similar situation, went up 16-0 and ended up losing in extra-time.
“The boys had to hang in … it’s a credit to the character of a lot of players on our team.”
The Bulldogs return to Sydney with injury concerns of their own.
Halfback Moses Mbye failed a head injury assessment in the opening half after being caught late by Jarrod Wallace while Brett Morris (rib injury) is also in doubt for next week’s clash with St George Illawarra at ANZ Stadium.