In Round 22, something of a miracle happened on the Gold Coast - the Titans actually won a game. They didn't just win; they piled on 44 points against a team fighting for a place in the top eight.
What makes this somewhat miraculous is that they hadn't won in the last ten rounds and certainly didn't look likely to do so against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, but they did.
Yet this only took what was a top eight side last season up one place to 15th, with a good chance of still collecting the wooden spoon - not helped as they lost to a 12-man Dragons on Sunday.
So, where did it all go wrong on the Gold Coast? How did last season's battlers in eighthh place fall so far so quickly? The answers don't come easy.
On the face of it, the decision to allow Jamal Fogarty to leave has come back to haunt them, with Toby Sexton, his would-be replacement, now left to the reserves behind Tanah Boyd.
Boyd has played valiantly in a struggling team, but both have struggled to link with star player AJ Brimson as well as Fogarty did.
Yet perhaps the biggest issue coach Justin Holbrook has failed to solve is the one of million-dollar man David Fifita.
Widely criticised and benched earlier in the season, the Fifita in 2022 is far removed from his unstoppable 2021 form. Last season saw him go over for a remarkable 17 tries, more than any other Titan. He also made more tackle busts than any player in the NRL, and these stats earned him a million-dollar contract.
Comparatively, his five tries this season drastically fail to stack up. The reasons behind his drop in form are unclear, but signs he may be back to his best popped up last week as he tore through the Manly line to score a spectacular solo try.
Brimson, too, poses another problem. He also reminded everyone of his capabilities on Sunday afternoon, but he has struggled primarily due to being tossed between fullback and five-eighth all season.
This lack of consistency would affect any side, but worsening things further is realising these changes keep occurring because one of their most promising young players, Jayden Campbell, has struggled with injury.
No single issue here provides enough of an answer for how the Titans got it so wrong this year and combined, it still only seems to tell half of the story. But at least now they are on the up, and maybe next season, Holbrook's men can find the magic they did in 2021.
Titans and Newcastle both in the eight in 2021 and both down in the dumps in 2022. What do they have in common? No decent 7 and an unsettled halves pairing.
You can’t blame AJ Brimson for not being as successful as Nicho Hynes was in 2021 when he shuffled around the positions in the backline. Hynes was playing behind the Storm pack. Brimson has been playing behind Tino and a rabble.
For 2023, Justin Holbrook needs to:
a) get a decent 7 to play with his new 6 (Kieran Foran). If he can’t get one, then he makes a public declaration of support for either Sexton or Boyd and sticks with him all season, so he doesn’t feel every week that he’s playing for his place.
b) pick and stick with Brimson at full-back: no moving him around
c) get his players properly fit, and learn to *NOT* select them when injured: David Fifita looks looks like he’s been playing needled up with two busted shoulders all season. Jayden Campbell – as you said – has struggled with injury.
d) move Fifita to the middle of the park – play him in short bursts of 100% effort.
e) pick up a couple of solid, inexpensive, experienced forwards (think James Tamou and Aiden Tolman; 600+ games between them) to instill some culture in the club and show the youngsters what commitment means.
Those moves, alone, may not be sufficient to get the Titans back into the eight, but I reckon they would get the Titans pretty close.