Campbell credits Hasler's half-time spray for titanic turnaround

A “warranted” classic half-time spray from Des Hasler helped the Titans claim a fightback win against the Dolphins, with Jayden Campbell saying his coach’s belief inspired the epic turnaround.

Trailing 14-6 at the break, the Titans scored three second-half tries, along with a Kieran Foran field goal, to post the 21-14 victory.

The win keeps the Gold Coast’s faint finals hopes flickering, with Campbell saying Hasler’s fiery address was exactly what the team needed to get their focus right.

“We started off really slow; we were pretty poor, myself included, in the first half defensively and just our intent really,” Campbell told pan66.com.

“We came in at half-time and we copped a bit of a mouthful from Des; it was warranted and we needed it.

“But Des, he's got so much belief in us as a team and makes us believe in ourselves and we just want to win it for us, but also for him as well.

“I think it was just our attitude towards the game … we just sort of came in thinking it would happen but really, we have got to work for it.

“I am really, really proud of the boys and how we responded after half-time and how we dug deep.”

Campbell – who has this season moved from fullback to five-eighth – missed two weeks with a broken hand, but hasn’t skipped a beat since his comeback and was on song again, playing a leading role in three of his side’s four tries.

He however was full of praise for his teammates and their efforts in securing the win, with Origin prop Moeaki Fotuaika leading from the front and young fullback Keano Kini continuing to impress.

“Moe's awesome for us, he's a real leader in our pack, but I thought Keano Kini today for us was massive; young kid coming in and pretty much put us on his back in the first half,” Campbell said.

“K gets through a lot of work and he's such a good player, I'm happy for him, he works really hard on his game, so really proud of him.”

While the belief remains strong within the squad, the Titans need to win their remaining games to stay a chance of an unlikely finals appearance.

Not wanting to look too far ahead, Campbell said his focus was firmly on hosting their next-up opponents the Broncos on Saturday, who like their fellow Queensland rivals the Dolphins, have been struggling for wins, but also still have a goal of post-season football.

“It’s a local rivalry and it’s always a good game, but we have just got to keep winning,” Campbell said.

“You have got to take it week by week. The only thing that we can really do is just keep winning.

“We have got the next two games at home, so it's going to be a big help.

“It helps with our preparation too, not having to travel and staying local around family and friends, so it's really big for us these next two games and hopefully we can come away with a win for both weeks.”