‘We’re not far off’: Justin Holbrook confident Gold Coast Titans can turn season around

Justin Holbrook says his Gold Coast Titans must begin turning in 80-minute performances or risk falling further behind the pack.

Holbrook has coached the Titans since 2020. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Coach Justin Holbrook insists the Gold Coast Titans are on the brink of turning their season around, but says his side must stop falling asleep at the wheel mid-game.

The Titans narrowly missed out on the second week of the finals last season and were tipped to maintain their spot in the top eight in 2022, but have struggled for consistency thus far.

Across their last three first halves, the Titans have been outscored 40-6, but have managed to pull back the momentum to win the corresponding second halves by a combined total of 40-18.

Despite dominating their second halves, the Titans have won just one of their last three games.

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“What’s letting us down is not being able to do it for 80 minutes,” Holbrook said.

“There’s plenty of fight in the side. They showed it last week (against Manly), not conceding a try in the second half, but there are periods where we’re not doing well enough.”

The Titans are desperate to turn things around. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Holbrook admitted the Titans’ Jekyll-and-Hyde performances had left him frustrated.

“We’re not happy. No one plans on losing games. When it happens, the weeks get harder and that’s normal,” he said.

“But win or lose, we prepare the same every week. We do the same amount of work. We’ve just got to turn it around. We’re not far off.

“Four tries all at the end of the day last week.

“But we’ve got to start winning games.”

Their next assignment, the resurgent North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville, looks to be one of their most difficult yet.

“A really tough game up there, every game is, but that one in particular. We’ll look forward to it,” said Holbrook.

The Cowboys sit seventh on the ladder after six rounds. Picture: Mark Nolan/Getty Images

The North Queenslanders have been the surprise package of 2022 so far, managing three wins from six games, and the Titans likely can’t afford to give them a head start on the scoreboard.

“Unfortunately for us, when we concede one, we’re conceding three or four tries and then getting our act together,” said Holbrook.

Holbrook said he needed to see more resilience from his side when the chips were down.

“It’s probably when we’re on the back foot, handling it a lot better than what we have done so far this year, because for large periods we’ve been terrific. But for the full 80 minutes, we haven’t,” he said.

“We know that. That’s what we've got to get better at.”

Originally published as ‘We’re not far off’: Justin Holbrook confident Gold Coast Titans can turn season around