John Cartwright has watched his Titans leak an unacceptable 23 tries in three games and is now confronted with the best attacking team in the NRL.
But the Gold Coast coach feels there's finally some good signs after two weeks of hard yakka and introspection heading into Saturday night's must-win clash against South Sydney at skilled Park.
On top of the return of refreshed co-captains Greg Bird and Nate Myles following their enforced post-Origin rest, Cartwright sees a team that has stuck tight despite a string of key injuries and big defeats.
Their edge defence has consistently been exposed with Bird and centres Brad Takairangi (ribs) and Jamal Idris (broken leg) sidelined but only Idris will be missing against the Rabbitohs.
Cartwright and Trevor Gillmeister have done their best to address defensive frailties in the past fortnight following heavy losses to Newcastle (46-16) and Penrith (40-18).
"There's been a lot of hard work and soul searching," he said. "Back at home and the captains back on the field, there's some positive signs there.
"At the end of 80 minutes tomorrow night we'll know if it's working for us."
Cartwright is also taking the positives out of how the Titans dug deep when they were down and seemingly out at 24-4 down against Manly and played their way back into the match, before ultimately falling 38-20.
"It was a sign of a side that can bounce back," he said. "We got ourselves back into the contest but we have to start much better tomorrow."
While there's intrigue surrounding where Souths veteran Matt King will line up in his comeback from a broken arm, Takairangi could also pop up in a new role.
The former Rooster and Bird had forged a strong left-side combination before Origin but Takairangi has spent time training on both sides of the field this week.
There's little chance the Titans will be helped by a coasting Rabbitohs outfit with Souths also desperate to show their true colours after giving up a 12-point lead in the last 10 minutes against St George Illawarra on Monday night and losing in extra time.
"I'm expecting a good response," said coach Michael Maguire. "This team, they were disappointed, they understood that themselves and we've got to go out and get back into the way we're capable of playing.
"We've got a good challenge this week, they've got a big pack.
"Right across the board we didn't play (against then Dragons) how we expect to play. It's about getting back to that."
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