Gold Coast might be a work in progress but coach Neil Henry says that doesn't excuse some of their defensive failings in Saturday's 32-18 NRL defeat to the Sydney Roosters.
The Titans were carved up far too easily in their season opener at Cbus Super Stadium, falling behind 28-0 at the break after the Roosters piled on five unanswered tries.
It was a poor performance from the hosts although they nearly made up for it with an encouraging fightback in the second half.
Henry knows it can't be repeated if the Titans are to become a serious finals contender this year.
"You can't get away from the fact of how poor we were in the first half," he said.
"There's a valid reason for some of our play but we also need to be better with what we're doing defensively, regardless.
"There ended up being a run of plays where we didn't have the ball for a while and I thought when the heat was on us, we didn't get our decisions right on the edges.
"You can't play games like that."
But Henry said he was a "realist" who could recognise the mitigating circumstances surrounding his team after an injury-interrupted pre-season.
For one, it was the first NRL match new halves Kane Elgey and Ash Taylor have played together.
Many other players were physically underdone - including Jarryd Hayne, who Henry said was at about 80 per cent fitness because of a knee problem.
"The team hasn't had an opportunity to trial together," he said.
"We needed (Hayne) to get a run in - there was no structural damage to his knee, it was about time on legs for him. He'll be better for that as well.
"We had four players on debut, two on NRL debut. We need to improve but we've certainly got the capacity to improve a fair way."
The Titans play away to Newcastle next weekend but will be sweating on the fitness of new co-captain Kevin Proctor, who took no part in the second half against the Roosters.
The Kiwi second-rower will be sent for scans after taking a hit to his shoulder early in the match and playing through it.
"Hopefully it's just a minor thing - he didn't have a lot of power there, so we thought it was too risky," Henry said.
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