“Social loafing” is the curious phrase that has become Wayne Bennett’s catchcry this NRL season as he attempts to ward off the quickly-building hype enveloping his South Sydney side.

After three rounds, Bennett’s Rabbitohs are one of only two sides – along with Melbourne – to remain unbeaten after resisting a second-half comeback against the Gold Coast on Sunday.

Despite being 3-0, Bennett refused to express any pleasure in the 28-20 victory, describing his side as mixed and saying he was disappointed in the way the Titans were allowed back into the game.

The spotlight was always going to be on the Rabbitohs this year – after their fourth-place finish in 2018 and Bennett’s high-profile coaching swap with Anthony Seibold.

And fullback Alex Johnston revealed that since Bennett took over, curtailing outside noise and complacency had been a common theme of the seven-time premiership-winning mentor’s team talks.

“It’s his phrase of the year – social loafing is what he calls it,” Johnston told AAP.

Asked to explain “social loafing” – a term of Bennett’s creation – Johnston isn’t entirely clear, but he catches his coach’s drift.

“He reminds us about it, but at the end of the day it’s on us as players to try and snap ourselves out of it and to be switched on,” Johnston said.

“The last couple of weeks we really haven’t, the Dragons got off to a good start and were beating us at halftime last week and this week we let them back in the game. It’s something we really need to watch out for.”

The Titans got within four points with 13 minutes remaining on Sunday after two quick tries to Brian Kelly and Anthony Don before Souths ultimately got over the line thanks to two Adam Reynolds penalty goals.

“I found our energy was a bit down, we were a bit flat, talk was’t there in the huddle,” Johnston said.

“We needed a kick up the arse, for them to score a few points to snap out of it and get our mojo back towards the end and hold them off.

“It was a closer game than what it needed to be. We can’t continue to play like this, we’ll find ourselves on the other end of the winning column.”

Bennett denied he was trying to keep a lid on expectations, saying his side’s effort was lacking in many areas.

“I’m not trying to put a dampener on it, I’m just trying to be honest,” Bennett said.

“If you live on what you’ve already done, it won’t be long until you’re out of a job.”