South Sydney coach Jason Taylor praised his NRL side's never-say-die attitude after the Rabbitohs stole a crucial 20-14 victory over a valiant Gold Coast with two late tries at Telstra Stadium.

The Bunnies looked cooked trailing 14-8 with 10 minutes to go and forced to defend their third consecutive set of six on their own tryline.

But as they have done for much of the year, the Rabbitohs defence again came up trumps, denying the Titans the game-clinching score before Nigel Vagana and Dean Widders overturned the six-point deficit with tries in the final eight minutes.

"I was really proud of the way the guys kept coming in the second half, it was inspirational stuff," Taylor said after the win that - temporarily at least - lifts the Rabbitohs into eighth spot.

"We didn't play that pretty, there were a couple of errors ... but we kept coming at them, and coming at them, and wore them down, and in the end we got the points.

"And however you get them it doesn't matter in the end as long as you get them.

"I was really impressed by the way the team stuck together. They've done it all year ... it's awesome I reckon."

Rabbitohs co-captains Peter Cusack and Roy Asotasi both credited their side's superb late defence as the turning point.

"We sort of got the momentum back, something just clicked and we just hung in there," Cusack said.

"I think what won us the game was that 22 tackles on our line."

With skipper and chief playmaker Scott Prince still sidelined with a sternum injury, Titans coach John Cartwright admitted his side's inexperience was perhaps costly in their failure to attempt a field goal when leading by six late in the game.

"Maybe with a bit more experience we may have nailed a field goal," said Cartwright after his injury-ravaged side's fifth straight loss.

"We did so much work in that second half. I think they were there to be got, but we just didn't put them away.

"It's a bit of a hollow feeling. It was an enormous effort for us to get back in the game."

After Souths scored two tries in the opening 10 minutes, the Titans fought back to claim a 14-8 lead when centre Brett Delaney crossed four minutes after the break.

There was no shortage of desperation from both sides over the final 30 minutes, but just when the game looked to be slipping away form Souths, Nigel Vagana scored in the 72nd minute to set up a grandstand finish.

Four minutes later Ben Rogers launched an ambitious mid-field bomb.

The Titans should have defused the situation, but instead allowed the ball to bounce, with Shane Rigon batting the ball back for Widders, who charged 20 metres to score the winner.

Titans skipper Luke Bailey was again sensational for the Gold Coast, proving tireless in both attack and defence while scoring his third try in two games in the first half.

Mat Rogers, in his first game back from a knee injury, also scored near half-time to give the Gold Coast a 10-8 lead at the break after Souths had skipped ahead with early tries to Fetuli Talanoa and Eddie Paea.

Souths backrower David Fa'alogo was placed on report - on the advice of video referee Bill Harrigan - for a forearm on Titan Ian Donnelly in the 17th minute.

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