David Furner under pressure as Titans blow Raiders off park

THE blowtorch is back on Raiders coach David Furner after a "disgraceful" performance against the Gold Coast Titans.

Ben Ridge

THE blowtorch is back on Raiders coach David Furner after a "disgraceful" performance against Gold Coast had fans heading for the exits well before full-time.

Instead of making it three wins on the trot and keeping their slim September hopes alive, Canberra were blown off the park 38-26.

Furner thought the Raiders were in for an enjoyable afternoon after centre Blake Ferguson strolled through for an easy try inside the opening five minutes.

But by half-time the Raiders trailed 22-4, and were booed off the ground by their fans.

Match centre: Game details and stats, plus vote for man of the match

As talk about Ricky Stuart returning to the nation's capital gathers momentum, Furner told The Daily Telegraph he was only worried about reaching the finals.

"That's all I'm focused on, pure and simple," Furner said.

"I had a good feeling about today, but how quickly things can change. After that first try, I thought, 'here we go', and we can build some momentum.

Gallery: Best action snaps from the game

"But every time we tried to get back into it, there were times there William Zillman picked the ball off his toes instead of us enjoying repeat sets ... it felt like we were defending all day.

"I believe this side can still make the eight. We've had a tremendous amount of injuries and we're still struggling with players coming back. It's frustrating, but I've got no control over it. It's not my decision (about my own future)."

Raiders chief executive Don Furner said every coach in the NRL was under pressure to deliver results, and some of the blame had to fall on the players, especially after the first-half showing.

"It was very disappointing today, and why the team does that one week and not the other, I don't know the answer," Furner said.

The Raiders raced out of the blocks only for the Titans to score the five tries. Had it not been for Scott Prince's shocking day with the boot, the scoreline could have been worse.

The Titans went further ahead through tries to former Bunnies hooker Beau Falloon, on debut for the Gold Coast club, Luke O'Dwyer and a second to Zillman. The Raiders scored three tries in the final three minutes to make the scoreline slightly more respectable.

Ferguson, one of the few Raiders who played well, was straight to the point when asked about the performance.

"That first half we played disgracefully. It was unacceptable the things that were happening out there," Ferguson said.

"Those tries were soft and should not have happened. But you saw what we did in the last 15 minutes and what we can do when we get everyone running hard."

Talk before the game had focused on the Raiders and if they could repeat what they did in 2010 and storm into the finals from nowhere. Furner hinted some players may have got carried away with that. They still have a favourable draw with four of the seven remaining games against teams currently outside the top eight.

As for the Gold Coast, who joined Canberra on 18 points, their win was made extra special given Luke Bailey (ribs) and Nate Myles (sternum) both played with injuries.

GOLD COAST 38 (S Michaels 2 W Zillman 2 L Douglas B Falloon K Gordon L O'Dwyer tries S Prince 3 goals) bt RAIDERS 26 (J Croker B Ferguson R Robinson J Thompson S Williams tries J Croker 3 goals) at Canberra Stadium. Referee: Steve Lyons, Gavin Reynolds. Crowd: 8,240.