NZ Warriors coach Andrew Webster says he is "gutted" for his players, after another lacklustre display in their 27-24 defeat to lowly Gold Coast Titans.
The match appeared to follow an eerily similar script to their loss a week before to St George Dragons, when the Warriors exploded out of the gate, before their opponents completely reversed momentum to take a lead into the sheds at halftime.
There was even another buzzerbeating field goal.
While the Titans - as had the Dragons - struck first in the second stanza, this time the Warriors turned the tide to control both territory and possession through the final third of the contest.
Despite repeated tryline assaults, the hosts couldn't find a way to breach a stoic Titans defence, falling to a second consecutive defeat and continuing their Anzac Day curse.
"I feel gutted just for the boys," Webster said. "They are not playing the way they want to play right now, that’s pretty obvious.
"There is no hiding that. The boys are not hiding that, I'm not hiding that."
The Warriors were often their own worst enemies. One of the most disciplined and effective sides at set completion through the opening rounds, they repeatedly afforded the Titans piggyback penalties up the field to begin their sets - just as they had last weekend - while ill-timed errors often stifled their attacking impetus.
The Titans looked far from the cellardwelling outfit that entered the match winless, dominating the ruck and looking likely every time they entered the Warriors red zone against a porous NZ defence.
"Just individual moments are killing us at the moment," Webster added. "Twelve-nil up and dominating. and then we have an error, missed tackles by individuals and we are losing the ruck in defence.
"They were playing the ball far too quick and they were having real good shots at us off the back of fast play-the-balls. It's really hard to compete like that and we made it really hard for ourselves.
"I thought they played really well. I am not going to take anything away from the Titans.
"We didn't turn up and do what we wanted to do, but we got beaten by the better team on the day."
The result sees the Warriors drop to 12th on the NRL ladder, with three wins, a draw and four losses through the opening two months of the competition.
Although Webster praises his team's response to their 27-12 deficit, fighting their way back and ensuring it remained a contest, the fact they were again faced with that scenario leaves him perplexed.
"There was never any worry about time on the clock or the scoreboard," Webster said. "I was confident in that.
"I was really proud of the fact they wanted to come back and win, and they kept competing, but I just ask ourselves why we are in that situation? We got back into the game through the way we want to play.
"I thought we started tackling well. I thought Mitch Barnett came back on the field and tackled unbelievably, and changed the momentum defensively for us, because we didn't need to change our attack. We needed to change the way we defended.
"We had plenty of opportunities to score, and we scored some and we didn't execute on others, but we shouldn't be having to chase like that."
In the 65th minute, the Warriors appeared to find the try they needed to put their noses back in front, when Rocco Berry was on hand to ground a ball that seemed to have been knocked back into his path in an aerial contest between Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and opposite Alofiana Khan-Pereira.
Video review ruled Watene-Zelezniak had knocked on in the process - a judgement Webster disagrees with, but refuses to use as a crutch.
"I always find them hard, when two guys are contesting in the air," Webster said. "I am not critical of it.
"I thought it went backwards off Dallin's shoulder, and Rocco gets the ball and scores.
"I thought it was going to go our way, but you never assume, and I am not blowing up and being critical about it, simply because, if you are in the box, you get a couple of looks at it.
"It is hard with deflections with two guys in the air. Maybe I was hoping it was a try, but my initial reaction was I thought we were going to get that one."
Next on the agenda for Webster and his team will be some extra time away from the training paddock to rest and recuperate, after a pair of short turnarounds, before they begin their preparations for their trip across the Tasman to face Newcastle Knights next Sunday.
"We could be really dumb and say we are going to train even harder the next three days, but the boys need a break," he said. "They are trying really hard, they have emptied the tank.
"We have had tough games. It is great practice, but their bodies are ready for a break.
"No-one is using it as an excuse, because it is not, but we need to have three days off away from footy, and then we need to come back with seven-day turnarounds from there and get some more practice.
"We haven't practised much lately and we are looking forward to that, but I think they are looking forward to getting away from footy for three days and come back fresh with an attitude for improvement."
