Mitch Rein doesn't have to dig too deep into the memory bank to know what the Wests Tigers players have been going through the past few days.
Named on the bench in round three last year against the St George Illawarra Dragons – his former club no less – Rein came onto the field with his side having just conceded their second try to trail 16-8 after 28 minutes.
Three minutes later it was 26-8 and the Titans' Toowoomba capitulation was well underway.
The final scoreline would read a dismal 54-8 for the Titans yet a week later they bounced back to account for the Broncos in a stunning 26-14 upset at Suncorp Stadium.
The 58-point turnaround was the third-largest of the 2018 Telstra Premiership. It makes Rein even more wary of the type of Wests Tigers team they are going to came up against at Scully Park in Tamworth on Saturday evening.
"Everyone has been on the end of some hidings. Some days things just don't go right," said Rein, who was part of a Dragons team in 2016 that suffered back-to-back defeats of 36-0 and 26-0 before winning six of their next nine games.
"Last week's scoreline won't really reflect how they'll be playing this week.
"They are a quality side so they would have been blasted by the coach. They obviously just had a bit of an off day.
"Things weren't going right for them. I saw at one stage they were completing really high so it's not like they were turning over cheap ball. They just weren't turning up.
"It's going to be tough for us coming up against them this week. It's always hard coming up against a side that has had it handed to them the week before.
"They'll still be stinging. They'll be wanting to make amends as quick as possible so we'll definitely have to be sharp out there at Tamworth ready to face a strong side, because they have been going well."
Veteran half Benji Marshall was not part of the Tigers side that was humiliated to the tune of 51-6 by Parramatta on Monday and won't travel to Tamworth this week but saw first-hand the effect that it had on the players.
"I went to recovery and video and there is genuine embarrassment and a feeling from the players that they let each other down and the fans," Marshall said on NRL 360 on Fox League.
"This is the easiest time to bounce back, when you get pumped.
"The emotion is there, you're ready to play and we've got a five-day turnaround which I think is going to help us.
"The sooner we play the better."
Wests Tigers v Titans - Round 7
A premiership-winning coach with the Rabbitohs in 2014, Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire knows how to use the sting of a heavy defeat to motivate his players.
Besides the 64-4 shellacking the Rabbitohs suffered at the hands of Melbourne in his second-last game in charge in 2017, Maguire's biggest drubbing as South Sydney coach was a 54-4 hiding courtesy of the Raiders in round 21, 2106.
A Cameron Smith penalty goal as the siren sounded was all that prevented South Sydney from defeating the Storm in Melbourne six days later, which gives Titans coach Garth Brennan even more cause for concern.
"I'm expecting a massive bounce-back. I know their coach will have them fired up," Brennan said.
"No one likes to get beat but no one likes to be beaten in that fashion either.
"I've got no doubt that they'll come with real intent, like every team does in the NRL. You don't get an easy game.
"They're ahead of us on the table so we've got plenty to play for as well and we'll be preparing really well and hopefully put in a good performance."
