They called him The Axe for his ability to chop down any rival on a rugby league field.

But even Trevor Gillmeister is left scratching his head when it comes to stopping Parramatta Eels superstar Jarryd Hayne.

Not a good omen considering he is defensive coach for the Gold Coast Titans, Parramatta's opposition in Friday night's NRL semi-final clash at the SFS.

Especially after the Titans conceded 78 points in their last two games, including their thrilling 40-32 finals loss to the Broncos last weekend.

Yet Gillmeister can still manage a laugh, particularly when the ex-Test backrower was asked how he would go if he had to tackle Hayne in his day.

"I'm glad it's them and not me," Gillmeister said.

"He would have sidestepped me and put the ball near the posts before I got a chance to get off the ground. He's a freaky player."

While Titans coach John Cartwright has put the onus on halfback Scott Prince's kicking game to limit Hayne's opportunities, Gillmeister believed the Gold Coast forwards could also do their part.

"He (Hayne) is playing great footy, but their forwards are really playing well too," Gillmeister said.

"He's doing some stuff out of nothing but a lot of it is on the back of some good go forward from his forwards.

"If we can limit their opportunities and they are not getting a good roll on (with their forwards) hopefully that helps us."

Much has been made of the Titans' apparently leaky defence of the past fortnight but Gillmeister wasn't concerned as they prepared to take on a rampaging Eels.

"Surprisingly enough I was quite happy with the defence (against the Broncos)," he said.

"(Brisbane had) three tries off kicks, one from our mistake and two intercepts.

"I think we had the ball 13 times in the first half, which is unheard of - that's under-nines stuff.

"So for our blokes to burn that much petrol tackling in the first half and come back was sensational."

Titans backrower Mark Minichiello dismissed any concerns about their defence.

"For people who didn't watch the game they probably thought it was a game of touch," he said.

"But it wasn't that way at all. We scored some great tries and they scored tries off kicks and a couple of errors from us.

"It was a great effort to get back into the game and almost win it."

Minichiello sounded like a gushing fan when the inevitable subject of Hayne came up, describing the Dally M Medallist as "unbelievable".

"He's a step above at the moment. We are really going to have to mark him if we are to have a chance," he said.

Gillmeister said the Titans did not have to be told they could never drop their guard against Hayne after he cut through the Dragons late in their 25-12 finals boilover on Sunday to score one of the season's great solo tries.

"The big thing is that blokes get tired at certain stages of the game, especially in the middle of the ruck," he said.

"But on the flip side I think some of our blokes can expose some of their players (the same way)."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP