A head knock to South Sydney captain Greg Inglis has threatened to sour an uninspiring 22-16 victory for the Rabbitohs over a brave Gold Coast at CBus Super Stadium.
Inglis was felled by an accidental arm when he clashed with Titans enforcer Ryan James while attempting to field a high ball in the 55th minute of Saturday night's game.
Despite not featuring for the remainder of the contest, the Queensland and Test star quelled any fears brought about by his concussion after the match.
"I pulled up fine. Obviously got assessed by the doctor and with the new concussion rules in place it's all about player welfare so that's the reasoning behind not going back on," Inglis said.
"Our doctor is very thorough and I back him 100 percent but as a competitor I wanted to go back out there."
Having battled a bout of tonsillitis which kept him in hospital for three days prior to Wednesday's State of Origin opener, Inglis started the game well with a 23rd-minute try.
A combination of valiant Titans goal-line defence and tame Rabbitohs' attack kept the game evenly poised until Alex Johnston, deputising at fullback for his wounded skipper, dashed over for his 30th NRL try in as many games 19 minutes from time to give Souths a six-point buffer.
The Titans had late opportunities to snatch an unlikely win but ultimately fell short in front of 15,583 fans.
Gold Coast were their own worst enemies throughout with a 63-percent completion rate compounded by ill discipline - they gave away 11 penalties and only won 45 percent of possession.
After surviving an early first-half onslaught, the Titans marched down the field for their opening try through winger Anthony Don in the 10th minute.
Souths struck back in the 23rd through Inglis, which involved a no-try decision being overturned by the video referee.
Speedy centre James Roberts snuck over out wide for the Titans after 33 minutes to leave the home team in front 10-6 heading into half-time.
The visitors cracked the line first in the second stanza off the back of a 40-metre burst by Inglis, Chris Grevsmuhl crashing over to level at 10-all.
Johnston's try and Grevsmuhl's second gave the Rabbitohs some breathing space on the scoreboard with a 22-10 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
Don crossed for his second try six minutes from time to offer the Titans some hope at 22-16, Lachlan Burr then losing the ball over the line with his side pushing to take the match into golden point.
However, Souths managed to hold on to claim a valuable two competition points which sees them consolidate their position within the top eight.
The Titans remain stranded on four wins for the season, the loss being their third in a row.
"It was a brave effort but we made too many unforced errors," coach Neil Henry said.
"We defended really well in patches. We used up a lot of energy early in the game and didn't get to attack too often.
"We showed glimpses but our ball control wasn't good enough to take advantage."
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