Titans Head Coach Justin Holbrook was pleased with the attitude U-turn by his men after last week's effort against the Sea Eagles, but found it a tough night as his team didn't get the opportunities to finish the game off.
"I think obviously in the first half we played some great footy and got ourselves a good lead. Never got a chance in second half. We couldn't get the ball or get any momentum to finish the game off," Holbrook said.
"When I settle down in a few days' time I will see plenty of plus sides but I just felt it was a tough night to watch as a coach and we didn't get any opportunities to win the game.
"We weren't good enough defensively to leak 40.
"We scored 30 points against a really good side and that's losing a centre [Herbert, calf inury] and front-rower [Lisone, pec] early, so we were makeshift and then we had no ball on top of that.
"If we had a bit of possession we would've done alright so I'm not critical of our boys at all.
"The two games are just so different, last week we were just horrible straight away, whereas tonight we had blokes out of position against a strong side that just kept the ball.
"Our attitude was okay tonight, it was Souths' execution that we were not good enough to stop.
Not even a first-half hat-trick to David Fifita was enough for the Titans as they managed to put 30 points on the second-placed Rabbitohs but conceded 40.
"We don't want to be leaking that many points that's for sure."
Holbrook was devastated after the Gold Coast surrendered a 24-10 half-time lead as the Rabbitohs piled on 20 points in 13 minutes in a second half of near perfection inspired by Benji Marshall.
But it was what happened when Tyrone Peachey levelled scores in the 69th minute that infuriated the coach as a minor push and shove between players stopped the game as both captains were called out for a discussion as the Rabbitohs rested.
Holbrook believes the Titans were disadvantaged by an unnecessary discussion, along with another moment in the second half when a scrum had to wait to form while a Rabbitohs forward was treated for cramping.
Match Highlights
"I thought we got a bit of momentum there with that try from Peach and the game is meant to quicken up but then we stop for 15 minutes, I thought that's terrific there goes our momentum gone now," Holbrook said.
"Souths got a 10-minute break, they then got a good rest at a scrum which the new rule is if you have cramp you go off the field.
"They're the things I'm talking about we just couldn't get a chance.
"Score the try, kick the goal, get back, let them kick off to us and all of a sudden the game must've stopped for 10 minutes.
"You need everything to go right to win games of footy. Even right from the start we had to use a captain's challenge to get a try and I thought 'oh geez'. Because we're playing a good side I feel like you can cop a lot of harsh decisions and six-agains for no reason and things like that I find difficult to take but I've got to cop it."
The Titans face rivals the Brisbane Broncos in the Macca's Local Derby next Friday night at Suncorp Stadium
