David Fifita faces a possible ban for a high tackle after Gold Coast claimed the battle but hardly won the war with a scrappy 36-28 win over Wests Tigers.
Desperate to make a statement after three straight losses, the Titans started fast but still had to fight off two threats of comebacks at Campbelltown.
Leading 36-12 late, David Nofoaluma crossed twice for the Tigers in three minutes to put them back in the match before a dramatic climax.
Aiming for a third to reduce the margin to one try with three minutes to play, Nofoaluma was smashed into touch by Fifita and careered into an exposed wire fence.
The 27-year-old stayed down for more than a minute but was eventually back to his feet, as the bunker denied the four-pointer.
Fifita then ended the match in the sin-bin for a high shot on Adam Doueihi, risking a ban alongside Tyrone Peachey who also pinged for a shoulder charge.
"Dave, I honestly thought reflex action. He got 10 in the bin," Titans coach Justin Holbrook said.
"It didn't hurt him at all which is good. But I think he should be fine."
Against 12 men Doueihi crossed to reduce the margin to eight, but the five-eighth missed the kick with four seconds to play to kill off any comeback.
It was the kind of finish that summed up a strange night for both sides, as the Tigers tried for a second time to honour Tommy Raudonikis but got the same result.
"We should never have been in that spot," Tigers coach Michael Maguire said.
"It was a game of touch footy in the first half ... It's not acceptable. I have sat here a few times and said the same.
"The Titans are a team that throw the ball around, and we got scattered."
Maguire's assessment of touch football was fair.
For the second time in three games, his side conceded three tries in three straight sets as they went 18-0 down inside 14 minutes.
Adding to the humiliation, one of those came from the kick-off after a Jarrod Wallace long ball put Alex Brimson into the clear for Tyrone Peachey to go over.
Wallace was in the action again on the next set, when his offload gave Fifita space on the left and allowed Brian Kelly to add to the Tigers' pain.
But while they were dangerous in attack, the Titans were just as poor in defence.
The Tigers' first try came when Joey Leilua charged onto a ball off a scrum, hitting a gap with ease and brushing past Beau Fermor.
And Jake Simpkin's second came when he burrowed under from dummy-half, getting the ball down through three defenders.
After the Tigers trailed 24-12 at halftime, the key moment came when a Luke Brooks grubber with no fullback at home went straight into the body of Jamal Fogarty.
Fogarty scooped the ball up and put Anthony Don 60 metres downfield before Phillip Sami went over on the left wing the next play, albeit off a questionable Brian Kelly pass.
Then when it mattered most, Fifita, Brimson and Tanah Boyd all piled into Nofoaluma to finish a win they so desperately needed.
"It was a big play ... We needed that," Holbrook said.
Australian Associated Press
