Titans coach Justin Holbrook praised David Fifita's "huge effort" to face the Warriors after an ankle infection meant he didn't train in the lead-up to Saturday's 19-6 loss at Central Coast Stadium.
The star second-rower spent two days in hospital before the clash in Gosford but still managed to pump out 71 minutes, 117 metres and 25 tackles - even if he wasn't his usual explosive self on club debut.
"[David] wasn’t able to train all week but he was OK come game day. To his credit, he ran out there today and did his best, which was a huge effort," Holbrook said.
"We've got to get him to recover well so he's right next week."
Holbrook said Fifita wouldn't need to manage his load leading into Friday's match against his old team in Brisbane.
Match Highlights: Warriors v Titans
Fifita, who turned 21 last month, had to wait 11 minutes before taking his first carry on the left edge but was regularly involved thereafter.
"I didn’t think we gave him too much ball. I thought we were OK with how we played," Holbrook said of the Queensland and Indigenous All Stars representative.
"We want to rely on everybody, not Dave. The whole team didn't come up with much. I was OK with that, it was a tough game, but what we had to do was stop their little barge-over tries.
"If we did that we could be sitting here talking differently about the whole game completely."
Thompson try gives the Titans hope
Lock Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, a premiership winner with Melbourne last year, "tried hard" in his first appearance for the Titans along with former Warriors centre Patrick Herbert, according to Holbrook.
Fa'asuamaleaui made 149 metres and 32 tackles.
"Full credit to the Warriors, they played really well and played the conditions great. They were the better side," Holbrook said.
"It was hard work out there. It was always going to be. We just let in a couple of soft barge-over tries."
While Holbrook wasn't displeased with his team's attack despite the fact they only scored in the 73rd minute, he wanted more from talented playmakers Jamal Fogarty and Ash Taylor.
"I think we've got to be a lot better there. I thought their halves ran a lot more than we did, and we were a bit slow to start like we were last year," the mentor said.
"We didn't have Ash and AJ [Brimson] for a lot of the pre-season [due to off-season surgeries] until the end there. We'll definitely get better; I'm OK with that."
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