Manly Sea Eagles coach Kieran Foran admits his side must elevate areas of their game if they have a chance of making the Top 8 this year.
The Sea Eagles let a crucial game slip as they face a tough draw to close out their season, including upcoming matches against the Sharks, Storm, Knights, Dolphins and Warriors.
'Fozball' is facing its first major hurdle in Foran's coaching career, and after losses to Parramatta, North Queensland, and now Gold Coast, the pressure is dialling up after the honeymoon phase has come and gone.
Foran is backing himself to get his side out of this slump and return to the champagne footy we've grown to expect.
“It's definitely a challenge for sure, but I didn't take the job thinking I wasn't going to be challenged,” Foran said in a post-match press conference.
“I love being challenged. I have my whole life, and this is no different.
“We're in this together. We'll fight our way out of it. I've got full belief in where we're heading this year. I haven't deviated from that.
“I said that to the guys in there. I know what we're capable of doing. We've just hit a bit of a flat spot, not in terms of our energy and our intent.
“Our energy and intent is there, and our purpose, but just the style of footy that we're playing isn't helping us.
“We're self-inflicting a lot of pain and sides are too good these days to continuously do that, so that's where we've got to get better.”
The Sea Eagles came out of the blocks firing and were up 10-0 in a matter of minutes against the Titans, but couldn't sustain the pressure and suffered a 38-32 defeat.
Since Round 5, when Foran took over, the club has played a sparkling brand of rugby league, winning his first four at the helm.
Manly tweaked their formula after Anthony Seibold's sacking, simplifying their game, with forwards running hard then earning the right to spread the ball wide.
Although it seems Manly's old ways are creeping back into their game, making errors in their own end, inviting the Titans countless times into the Sea Eagles' red zone.
“That's where we lost the game at the back end of that first half. We started the game really well and did everything we wanted to do,” Foran continued.
“I thought we were really physical in our contact, played some nice footy to get ahead and then just lost our way with our brand of footy.
“We're just not putting together long periods of really good play at the moment. I know I've been touching on it for the past month. A positive play quickly followed up by a negative play.
“I said to the guys before that really good block we had of wins we were putting together lots and lots of positive plays and really building the contest.
“We're just not doing that at the moment, which is allowing teams back into the contest and it's not playing the way that we want to play.
“We've got to work out why that is happening, and we've got to work it out.”
Injuries have contributed to Manly's form slump, with Tom Trbojevic rejoining the casualty ward after sustaining a hamstring injury early in the Gold Coast.
He joins Luke Brooks and Clayton Faulalo on the sidelines, who supply plenty of attacking flair for the club, and are currently being dearly missed.
They now sit in ninth after being in the top four only five weeks ago.
The Cronulla Sharks make the trip across town to the Northern Beaches on Sunday, which shapes up as a formidable task for the Sea Eagles after the Shire-based club has found some excellent form.
