Gold Coast coach Justin Holbrook has had enough.
In a bid to salvage something from the Titans’ woeful 2022 campaign, Holbrook has forecast changes to his struggling side after he reviews their 38-12 loss to Newcastle at McDonald Jones Stadium.
It was the Titans’ sixth straight loss and 11th from their past 12 games, leaving the 2021 finalists languishing at the bottom of the ladder on six points with eight games to play.
Knights wingers Edrick Lee (five) and Dominic Young (three) had a night to remember, combining to score all eight Newcastle tries on both edges of the field as playmakers Anthony Milford, Adam Clune and Tex Hoy were given too much space around the fringes of the rucks.
“We were awful. Awful. Hundred per cent,” Holbrook said. “We didn’t know what we were doing out there, getting a few wrong, then just got worse, so we’ve got a lot to fix up, that’s for sure.”
Asked if he felt lost for answers, Holbrook said: “I am tonight, definitely.”
“Go back to our last game [an 18-10 loss to Cronulla on June 18] and we competed hard against the Sharks, nearly score right at the death to get really close, but then tonight we were a million miles off, so we’ve got to have a look at the team and who’s running out there, that’s for sure now.”
Would that mean personnel changes?
“Yeah, definitely,” he said, without indicating who was facing the axe. “We’ve just got guys in positions that aren’t doing their job well enough for the NRL.
“Tonight we got two attacking chances and came up with two errors early, then we got the ball back twice and we dropped it playing the ball on play one, so it’s a lot of individual errors.
“That hurts you then and makes it hard with inexperience, and we’ve got a young half [Toby Sexton] trying hard, and our five-eighth [Paul Turner], we’ve lost some experience there and he’s only played a couple of games.
“So our kicking game got lost there in the first half and it makes it hard on every position, then we’re all getting a little bit lost and a little bit out of sorts and that’s when you get a scoreline like that tonight.”
Titans prop Jarrod Wallace was sent off in the 71st minute for his part in a dangerous lifting tackle on Knights utility Simi Sasagi but Holbrook had no issue with referee Chris Butler’s decision.
“Obviously it was a dangerous tackle, purely one of those ones that get out of control,” he said. “There was no deliberate action, but it did look bad, so I only see what you saw.”
The Titans have a bye next week to regroup and reassess, then face Brisbane, Canterbury, Canberra, Melbourne, Manly, St George Illawarra, Newcastle and the Warriors in the run home.
Though the finals appear out of reach, their immediate goal is climbing off the bottom of the ladder.
Holbrook spared fullback AJ Brimson, whose try early in the second half sparked a brief rally, and captain Tino Fa’asuamaleaui from criticism, though the Queensland Origin lock was not so forgiving.
“I guess it’s our fault, just errors and not defending well – especially myself in the middle there – and we all need to be better. It’s hard when we’re doing that,” Fa’asuamaleaui said. “It doesn’t give us the best chance to win.”
Fa’asuamaleaui said Titans fans deserved better than what the team had served up after qualifying for the top eight last year, then opening this season with wins against the Warriors and Wests Tigers and narrow losses to the Eels and Raiders in their first four games.
“It’s unfair on them, especially those loyal ones, but it’s unfair,” he said. “We need to play better. You can get away with it if you lose and you put effort in, but tonight there was no effort, bloody lazy, and I do feel bad for the fans.
“We need to pick our game up and finish strong so at least they can have a smile at the end of the season, but so far, it’s been pretty bad.”