Interim Gold Coast coach Craig Hodges remains confident his side can still salvage something from their disappointing season and claim a win before the year ends.
The Titans have suffered an extremely forgettable campaign and their 24-8 loss to the Melbourne Storm on Sunday afternoon confirmed they would finish 2019 with the dreaded wooden spoon.
Normally spirits would be low for a team that has lost nine matches on the trot and knows it will finish the season on the bottom, but Hodges said it's been exactly the opposite in his camp.
"They are never happy seasons when you lose your coach and win a wooden spoon ... but I have to give full credit to the players," Hodges said.
"We have made some changes but they [the players] have handled themselves well and they want to get us much out of the season as they can.
"The effort has certainly been increasing and the performances have been getting better and I thought it was another step forward today.
"We took the game to them and it was real pleasing to see.”
Match Highlights: Storm v Titans
The Titans looked like they were on the way to one of the biggest upsets of the season when they led the Storm 8-0 after just 15 minutes of the round-23 contest following Jesse Arthars scoring the opening try of the clash.
But it was all the league leaders from that point on as the Storm scored 24 unanswered points to clinch their 18th triumph of the season.
Hodges said his players could take a lot of confidence from their performance and he remains hopeful they can finish the season on a high with a victory against the Knights or the Dragons during their final two matches.
"If they keep working like they are we will get to hopefully end the season with a smile," he said.
"Melbourne are a wonderful team that lead the competition comfortably and I thought our guys took the challenge to them.
"We might have lost because they were a bit more experienced or a bit more talented, but we certainly didn’t lose because they tried harder.
"I was happy to see their effort today, but I hope they will get the reward to sing the song by the end of the season."
The resilience of the Titans was shown late in the game when winger Phillip Sami never gave up on the chase after Storm speedster Josh Addo-Carr set off for what looked like a long-range try but brought him down close to the line, forcing a fumble, in one of the best tackles of the season.
