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Ivan Cleary - Source: Photosport -
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Luckily, Warriors coach Ivan Cleary describes himself as a glass half full kind of rugby league coach.
That's why he can insist his side were agonisingly close to turning the corner before their error-ridden 12-28 defeat to Gold Coast left their NRL playoff hopes on thin ice.
And he vowed to keep faith with his halves combination Stacey Jones and Lance Hohaia, who both threw passes for length-of-the-field intercept tries, as his team spend the week in Queensland trying to plot a way out of their rut against the Broncos in Brisbane on Friday.
In some encouraging injury news, X-rays cleared Hohaia of any fractures after he suffered a heavily bruised shin, and he is expected to be fit for Friday.
"I'm remaining positive. It's a glass half full or half empty kind of thing," Cleary said.
"There were plenty of mistakes and things you can dwell on but I'm looking the other way and feeling as though we created more chances than we have for a while, we just couldn't finish them off."
The five tries-to-two defeat left the Warriors winless from their past six away matches. Their only victory across the Tasman this year remains against Manly, way back in round two in March.
They began strongly at Skilled Park, intent on playing an up-tempo style with forwards offloading in tackles.
The Warriors led 2-0 through a Kevin Locke penalty, before Locke chopped down a flying William Zillman with a trysaving tackle.
But it went pear shaped quickly as the Titans scored three tries in 12 minutes to be in control 16-2 at the break.
Youngster David Mead dashed 95m when he plucked a Hohaia pass meant for Manu Vatuvei, then Jones' 65th minute pass was intercepted by Kevin Gordon to seal the result.
"That kind of summed it up. Those passes don't hit the mark when you're pushing hard and there's a bit of confidence lacking," Cleary said.
"We created quite a few half chances and more often than not it ended badly. A couple of those things stick and all of a sudden the confidence comes back."
Second rower Lewis Brown was a rare positive for the Warriors, with several line breaks and a late consolation try.
Cleary admitted they had a royal chance to break their away duck against the Titans - who were without key men Mat Rogers, Ashley Harrison, Luke Bailey and Mark Minichiello - but they were "out-finessed" by the hosts.
Their skill level, with plenty of dropped ball, and their last tackle plays were key must-improve areas.
Despite suffering their eighth loss of the season and slipping to a minus 59 points differential, the Warriors remain just three points outside the top-eight.
Cleary described their playoff status as precarious and there would be no focus on it until they could string together some victories.
"What will get us wins is executing better when it matters most. Confidence is a big part of that.
"Our offence is struggling and we've just got to concentrate on little things and remaining positive. If we can get some momentum then we can worry about what happens later."
Last year they strung together late season victories to finish eighth, then moved within one win of the grand final, but time is fast running out to repeat that.
Cleary hoped a change in routine, with a week away from home to prepare for the Broncos, would help his side gel.
