Don't panic. That's the message from Sam Verrills to Titans fans after a first up loss in the trial series.
In saying that, the hooker was blunt in his assessment of the Gold Coast's first hit out against the Broncos and says there is plenty of improvement to be made - starting with this weekend's match against the Dolphins in Redcliffe.
"It's only a trial to be honest, but it definitely wasn't how we wanted to start the year," he said.
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'We've got to be better this week': Verrills
"It's a six day turnaround this week into another trial which helps so we will forget about it, but yeah we've got to be a lot better than we were.
"This (trial) is where you critique a few things and you work on it and we've still got 28 days before round two for us so there is still a long time to go.
"We got things to iron out to get better, we've got the round one bye as well, so fans don't need to worry it's just a trial."
The Titans rake says coach Des Hasler was frustrated by the performance.
"He (Hasler) said we got outcompeted and we weren't physical enough and that's not going to cop it in the NRL," he said.
"We know as a team going forward that we need to get better and luckily we can do it this weekend against the Dolphins.
"It was just a trial and we can't get our heads wrapped around it too early, but know we need to be better and that wasn't acceptable.
"We need to own that and we need to be a lot better."
Brian Kelly, Keano Kini, Jayden Campbell and Alofiana Khan-Pereira all return from All Stars duty for Saturday's match.
"A few of our squad will be back from the Maori and Indigenous camps so it'll be good to get a whole squad out there and play the whole 80 minutes," Verrills said.
Another key player to return is captain Tino Fa'asuamaleaui who has been named to return after missing the majority of 2024 with a knee injury.
"It'll be massive to have Tino back," Verrills said.
"It's been a long year for him but obviously it's just a trial so I'm not sure if he'll play big minutes.
"At least we have him back out there pulling the jersey on and I know what that means to him and his family.
"You get excited because a player like him is coming back, but he has been out of the game for a year so we just want him to find his feet early.
"We missed him last year massively, he is our leader and our skipper ... to welcome back one of the best players, one of the best front rowers in the game is massive."
