Gold Coast Titans head coach Josh Hannay has blasted a critical second half forward pass decision during his side's loss to the Brisbane Broncos.

The Titans, who went to halftime 8-6 down, had stayed alive in the game and were trailing 16-6 when they appeared to score through AJ Brimson who ran a brilliant line to receive a Lachlan Ilias pass.

But it was called back by the on-field officiating team for being forward, when, at worst, it looked flat.

Hannay admonished the call in his post-match press conference, suggesting his team couldn't pick themselves up off the canvas afterwards.

“It's really hard right now, plenty of effort in that first half,” Hannay said during his post-match press conference.

“I thought plenty of effort on the night. The 8-6 scoreline was probably fair at halftime. I thought we were doing a good job to stop them from getting their game on.

“They were doing a good job on us and then there's probably a turning point there in the second half, which I'm sure I'm going to get asked about.

“I wish that moment was different because I think it would have probably been a game that went down to the wire and then we just dropped our heads and they smelled a bit of blood and put us away.

“It's frustrating, it's a hard game right and you've got to work hard to earn your opportunities and so when you earn your opportunity and then you ice it and it gets taken away, it's frustrating.

“It's frustrating for the players, you've got to understand the psyche in that moment. It's reward for effort and then it's taken away from you and straight away you've got to try and brush that and we just didn't.

“So I feel for the players in that regard, that's a learn for us, that's a work on to be able to overcome tough calls when they go against you.

“I'm disappointed for the spectacle of the game that it probably changed the trajectory of the game.”

The Broncos wound up winning the game 26 points to 12, with the Titans' only other points being a late consolation try for Jojo Fifita.

Brisbane, which played through injuries, were high quality throughout the game, but the forward pass being set to a backdrop of plenty of others let go across the course of the weekend had fans on social media irate.

The NRL have previously toyed with the idea of forward pass technology in footballs, but have yet to take the plunge on actual games, while the bunker is also unable to make calls on forward passes for a range of reasons.

The loss for the Titans means they have fallen short in four of their first five and are only kept off the bottom of the premiership ladder by the hapless St George Illawarra Dragons, where pressure is now at fever pitch on coach Shane Flanagan.