St George Illawarra caretaker coach Dean Young lamented his side's failure to execute a three-step game plan in Friday night's 14-10 home loss to the Titans.
Young issued a pre-game challenge to limit Titans fullback AJ Brimson's impact, keep a connected defensive line, and defend kicks across the 80 minutes, but the Dragons struggled to follow the game plan.
Brimson ran a team-high 192 metres with two line breaks, including a final decisive break in the 78th minute that set up the match-winning try for Jamal Fogarty.
"It pisses me off to be honest because I know they're trying but you don't get two points for trying in this game, you've got to get your job done," Young said.
"They're all capable of doing their job but in the end, we didn't get it done. That's why we're sitting down shattered and that's why the Titans are singing the team song.
"The players are certainly buying into what we're trying to do. I thought we just played too lateral tonight.
Match Highlights: Dragons v Titans
"I thought our attack has been going okay the last couple of weeks but we tried to shift too much off slow play-the-balls.
"The Titans are the best in the comp at slowing the rucks down. We were never on the front foot so we tried to address that at half-time.
"In the end, Adam Clune and Tyson [Frizell] also both got held up over the line."
With four rounds remaining, the Dragons' 10th loss of the season all but rules out any chance of playing in this year's finals series.
Hunt sends Host crashing over
In contention for the vacant head coach's role next year, Young was unsure if he would use the remaining month of the regular season to make changes.
"I'll give it some thought and make a decision early in the week," he said.
"I've asked them to compete for 80 minutes and everyone can see we're competing hard. Our discipline is good - I think we only gave away four penalties and completed at 92 percent.
"[But] in the end the Red V deserves everything so I'm going to try and pick a side that can go out and win every week."
Young said Dragons bench hooker Billy Brittain would be monitored ahead of the clash with the Cowboys next week after failing a head injury assessment just four minutes after getting on the paddock.
Brittain replaced Hunt momentarily in the first half before leaving the field.
"I feel sorry for Billy, if you look into his story, he came to us late, where he drives from and the travel he has to do to train and play," Young said.
"I thought he could've been a difference tonight. We'll see how he is during the week."