Gold Coast face a taxing month without skipper Scott Prince after badly missing his leadership and composure in a nail-biting 25-24 win over the error-prone Bulldogs on Friday night.

Prince tore his hamstring midway through the first half at Suncorp Stadium and his absence was sorely evident as the Titans gave up a seemingly unassailable 24-6 lead.

They had complete control of the match until interchange dynamo Ben Barba inspired a spirited fightback in the hope of avoiding the Bulldogs' sixth-straight loss.

Barba produced two magical plays in the 59th and 63rd minutes for a try to himself and Jamal Idris to close to 24-18 down.

With the Coast suffering a bad case of the dropsies, the out-of-sorts Bulldogs had numerous opportunities to tie up the match and boost their flagging finals hopes.

But Greg Bird, who lifted in Prince's absence, kicked a 28m field goal with five minutes left before Barba crossed for his second with 90 seconds left.

The Titans then took an inexplicable short kick-off at the restart and Canterbury almost went the length of the field in the last play of the game.

Gold Coast led 16-6 when Prince walked straight off the field and into the dressing room in the 25th minute, after seemingly tearing his right hamstring with a successful sideline conversion.

Already without livewire veteran Preston Campbell, Prince's regular back-up at halfback who was a late scratching with a heel injury, the Coast were forced to move Mat Rogers into the halves with Bird.

The pair performed admirably initially, as they rode off the back of the Titans dominance up front, highlighted by big games from second-rowers Mark Minichiello and Anthony Laffranchi.

But Prince's class was missed as his team struggled to put the nominal home side away.

Canterbury's finals hopes now appear unrealistic following their sloppy display.

It was an Idris fumble in an attacking position that helped the Titans open the scoring in the eighth minute as electric winger Kevin Gordon pounced and raced 80m.

Three minutes later Minichiello stretched the lead to 10-0 after a fine inside ball from Rogers following a bust by Nathan Friend.

Canterbury hit back through Josh Morris, who fended off 107kg Sam Tagatese and then beat two other defenders to state his case for NSW selection.

Zillman's 20th-minute try, courtesy of another neat inside pass from Bird on half-way, and a Rogers penalty goal gave the Titans their 12-point lead but it could have been more as Friend continued to find space in the ruck.

With representative forwards Ashley Harrison and Luke Bailey sidelined and Luke O'Dwyer (hamstring) and Matt White (dislocated finger) also sustaining injuries, Titans coach John Cartwright labelled it a courageous victory for his third-placed side.

But he was upset by their second-half execution which gave the Bulldogs more than a sniff of victory.

"It (injuries) played havoc on us," he said.

"We had guys playing in all sorts of foreign positions but we still invited them back in the game.

"I was very worried at the end and that last desperation defence was great.

"Thank God for Birdy with that field goal."

Cartwright held hope Prince's injury, from a kick in general play, wasn't too serious but would know more after scans on Saturday.

Incensed Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore gave his team a post-match spray for their "unacceptable" first half display with their season on the line.

"Our first 40 minutes was extremely disappointing," he said.

"I said to the boys it was not acceptable.

"Individually I thought there were a lot of blokes off their game but collectively our line speed and fight to be in the game was just very disappointing.

"The boys know that. I made it very clear at halftime and I made it very clear after the game too: that the back 40 minutes doesn't make for a good footy game."

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