Gold Coast Titans left to rue lapses in concentration in crucial 20-minute period

The Gold Coast Titans have had a poor start to the season with just two wins from six games with one major reason why. Details inside.

Chris Randall of the Titans looks on during the round seven NRL match between Gold Coast Titans and Canberra Raiders at Cbus Super Stadium. Photo: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

The Gold Coast Titans have had a lacklustre start to the 2025 season with just two wins from their opening six games and a 20-minute window in matches has emerged as a pivotal reason why.

The Titans will be desperate to find a solution to these lapses as they prepare for a must-win clash against the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville on Saturday.

It has been a common theme for the Titans to find themselves in a winning position only to have the game slip from their grasps between the 30th and 50th minute.

In the 10 minutes before and after halftime, Gold Coast has conceded 10 tries and scored only twice from its six games.

Meanwhile, the competition’s top team, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, have scored 13 tries and conceded just four tries during that period in their first seven games.

Titans forward Reagan Campbell-Gillard said this was a pivotal area his team needs to work on.

“It’s the lapses before and after halftime is where it’s killing us,” he said.

“It’s a 10-15 minute period where we lose some concentration and let a team in and they have a sniff and then go on with that.

Reagan Campbell-Gillard of the Titans is tackled during the round seven NRL match between Gold Coast Titans and Canberra Raiders. Photo: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“It’s something we need to improve and fix and I’m sure we can do that this week.”

Gold Coast coach Des Hasler said his team needs to limit the negative play with the lapses of concentration often proving costly as was the case in their most recent defeat.

The Titans dominated the opening 25 minutes of the clash against the Canberra Raiders to lead 16-0 but four Raiders tries in the space of 16 minutes saw the lead rapidly vanish.

“We started really well but there are pockets, most sides are experiencing it where not so much lose our way but we dropped momentum which a lot of it is self-inflicted, we let them back into to the game,” he said.

“You gotta be able to stand clumps of that and we don’t and we suffer the consequences for it.

“It’s not an easy thing to pinpoint but it’s something you got to keep working that and we’ll keep doing that.”

Originally published as Gold Coast Titans left to rue lapses in concentration in crucial 20-minute period