Titans rake Sam Verrills has admitted Sunday's incorrect decision not to penalise Raiders fullback Chevy Stewart for being offside is frustrating, but the playing group aren't holding onto it ahead of their upcoming battle against Manly.
The error - which was confirmed by NRL head of football Graham Annersley on Monday - denied the Gold Coast a penalty from in-front to claim their first win of the season, but the 64-game hooker has taken the view his side can't hang their hat on crucial refereeing decisions to win them games.
"It’s a tough one because we worked so hard to come back and try and win that game and when you look at the review, it’s pretty clear he was offside," Verrills said.
"It’s unfortunate, but refs are human and they are going to make decisions… some are going to be wrong, some are going to be right.
"I feel like we got hard done by, but we can’t get angry about it.
"We had 90 minutes to win the game, so we can’t really blame it on that one decision, but it is very frustrating to lose a game that way."
Turning their attention to this week's battle of the beaches at home, Verrills feels there's no extra pressure up against the Sea Eagles despite it being the first time Titans coach Des Hasler will face his former side.
"We have a six day turnaround and we’re against a team that had a draw as well in Manly," he said.
"They had a tough away game in New Zealand and now have to come up here, so our focus shifts right on them. They’re playing good footy this year and we’re really searching for that win and it’s Des’ first game against his old club.
"Des has had a lot of success during his time at Manly and he’s come up here with a clear goal to bring success to the Gold Coast and it’s just another game at the end of the day.
"For us players, we want to get that first win and it would special against Manly for Des."
Match: Titans v Sea Eagles
Round 7 -
home Team
Titans
17th Position
away Team
Sea Eagles
3rd Position
Venue: Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
Taking plenty of confidence from the improved showing in the nation's capital, especially defensively after only having 42 percent of possession in the 90-minute thriller, the squad feel they have begun their rebound with the new systems in place after a tough start to the season.
"If you look at the result at the weekend, I know we didn't get the win but it was great to see the grit and resolve we showed in our defence," Verrills said.
"It's going to take time with Des but we're shaping to become a really good team.
"It's pretty cliche but we just need to stick to our processes Des has brought up here.
"He is very defence-orientated and it's not going to happen overnight... we knew that wasn't going to be the case. We've looked at the stats and how we've performed and we've just needed to tweak a few things and we're starting to see results, but at the end of the day, we need to be winning games.
"We haven't won one yet, so we're looking to get our first win this weekend against Manly."
