Warriors coach Andrew Webster is frustrated his side is not living up to expectations after an upset 27-24 loss to the previously winless Titans left it with a fourth loss from eight games.
The Warriors find themselves in 12th place and struggling to stay in touch with the top eight, let alone emulate their top-four finish from last season.
“I feel gutted just for the boys,” Webster said.
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“They are not playing the way they want to play right now, that’s pretty obvious. There is no hiding that. The boys are not hiding that. I’m not hiding that.
“Just individual moments are killing us at the moment. 12-0 up and dominating and then we just have an error, missed tackles by individuals and we are just losing the ruck in defence.
“They were just playing the ball far too quick and they were having real good shots at us off the back of fast play-the-balls.
“It’s really hard to compete like that and we just made it really hard for ourselves. I just thought they played really well. I am not going to take anything away from the Titans.
“We didn’t turn up and do what we wanted to do, but we got beaten by the better team on the day.”
Webster was proud of his team for fighting back from 27-12 down, but was frustrated the Warriors found themselves in that position after dominating early.
“There was never any worry about time on the clock or the scoreboard,” Webster said.
“I was confident in that. I was really proud of the fact they wanted to come back and win and they kept competing.
“But I just ask ourselves why we are in that situation? We got back into the game through the way we want to play. I thought we started tackling well.
“I thought Mitch Barnett came back on the field and tackled unbelievably and changed the momentum defensively for us because we didn’t need to change our attack, we needed to change the way we defended.
“We had plenty of opportunities to score and we scored some and we didn’t execute on others, but we shouldn’t be having to chase like that.”
Rocco Berry was denied a potential match-winning try for a knock-on, but Webster refused to use the tough call as an excuse.
“I always find them hard when two guys are contesting in the air,” Webster said.
“I am not critical of it. I thought it went backwards off Dallin’s shoulder and Rocco gets the ball and scores.
“I thought it was going to go our way, but you never assume and I am not blowing up and be critical about it, simply because if you are in the box you get a couple of looks at it.
“It is hard with deflections with two guys in the air, but maybe I was hoping it was a try, but my initial reaction was I thought we were going to get that one.”
Webster revealed he has opted to give his team a mini break to rest their bodies after a tough opening two months.
“I just said to the team we have got three days off,” Webster said.
“We could be really dumb and say we are going to train even harder the next three days, but the boys need a break.
“They are trying really hard. They have emptied the tank. We have had tough games. It is great practice, but their bodies are ready for a break.
“No one is using it as an excuse because it is not, but we need to have three days off away from footy and then we need to come back with seven day turnarounds from there and get some more practice.
“We haven’t practised much lately and we are looking forward to that, but I think they are looking forward to getting away from footy for three days and come back fresh with an attitude for improvement.
“We want to chase improvement and when we are at our best as individuals and as a team that’s what we are after.”
Originally published as Webster frustrated for Warriors players after shock Titans loss