Des Hasler has turned the blowtorch on his players after his side were blown off the park in a 44-14 loss to the Broncos, he labelled their worst performance of the season.

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“First 40 is probably the most disappointing 40 minutes we’ve played this year,” Hasler said.

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“There’s a thing in rugby where if you look at gassed, if you don’t front load, if you don’t turn up with good energy, we missed the start.

“We missed the start and we just chased and chased again for that first 40. We were really disappointing. We missed a jump we really did.

“We should have focused our energy better than what we did in hindsight.

“Remember, I think they might have scored off the first set. That kind of rocked us a little bit. “It took us a while to reset and by that stage he game was done by half-time.

“Got back in, reassessed, a bit more competitive in the second half. But we didn’t name up enough today, I think.”

Hasler was pressed on whether playing his Origin star off the bench contributed to the slow start.

“Do you think the decision of having Moeaki Fotuaika on the bench to start off with had some effect on the way you started?” Ben Dobbin asked.

“No, it didn’t have any effect,” Hasler replied bluntly.

Hasler wasn’t in the mood for making excuses when asked why his players couldn’t get up for a derby against the Broncos.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s the Broncos, it’s just disappointing the way we played that first 40,” Hasler said.

“There’s just no excuse for it. So stop making excuses.”

The Titans are anchored to the bottom of the ladder and Hasler was asked if he is the man to lead the team out of their current predicament, which he took issue with.

“Are you the coach to turn this club around?” Peter Badel asked.

“The players turn the club around,” Hasler said.

“So, it’s not a question like that. It’s not about that. It’s not about turning anything around.

“It’s about turning up and playing well. We didn’t do that. We missed that opportunity tonight. We missed that opportunity. And that’s just not good enough. And they know that.”

Hasler was pressed on the Titans’ horror defence which is the worst in the NRL.

“Yep, something we need to work on,” Hasler concluded.

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