Des Hasler holds no fears for Gold Coast's confidence after the winless Titans fell agonisingly short of victory for a second consecutive week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Titans fought back from 10-0 down against highly rated Manly on Saturday night, propelled to an unlikely 24-22 halftime lead by veteran playmaker Kieran Foran.
The two sides continued to trade blows in a seesawing affair, but after Ethan Bullemor restored Manly's lead by crashing over with 25 minutes to play, the Titans could not find a counterpunch.
Gold Coast's 34-30 loss was their sixth from as many games under new coach Hasler and came after a heartbreaking 21-20 extra-time defeat against Canberra last weekend.
The Titans' season is quickly slipping out of reach and things aren't going to get any easier as tough opponents the Warriors and Melbourne await.
But Hasler rejected suggestions his side would be running short on confidence after twice coming close to breaking their duck.
"Confidence won't go if you work hard and confidence won't go if they keep believing in what we're doing," he said.
"We've just got to be a little bit more experienced, a little bit smarter in areas and that's all we can really do.
"As long as we keep doing that, the confidence will come and we'll start to string some wins together."
Foran lamented his side's inability to maintain its intensity for 80 minutes against the Sea Eagles, but was similarly confident that a drought-breaking win was within reach.
"We're not able to put a full game of footy together at the moment," the 33-year-old said.
"We find a way to go outside the process or come up with errors and mount pressure back on ourselves. We can't seem to put it all together at the moment.
"There's only one way out of this and that's keep fighting our way through it.
"I know it's going to turn, I know it will because the boys care, the coaches care.
"I know (a win) is not too far away."
Australian Associated Press
