The Rabbitohs finally had a chance to unfurl their much-vaunted halves pairing, but Gold Coast coach John Cartwright endorsed Albert Kelly and Daniel Mortimer as the men to spark the Titans' spluttering season.
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Having warded off a wounded South Sydney, and the prospect of plunging to an unwanted club record seventh straight loss, the visitors have a handy alternative in Mortimer until Aidan Sezer recovers from his long-term pectoral injury.
Sezer's not due back until the final month of the season.
Mortimer, granted a mid-season release by the Roosters, was solid in only his second match for the Titans as Kelly starred off the bench in his return from a shin and calf complaint.
Kelly set up David Mead for the Gold Coast's first try with a neat inside pass and looked a constant menace every time he touched the ball.
"He certainly looked back to a bit of his old self and looked as dangerous as any player we had on the field," Cartwright said of Kelly. "He came up with what could have been a couple of try-scoring opportunities.
"They certainly complement each other and you've got a guy there who plays very structured and Albert will come up with that play that not many guys can do.
"They haven't really trained together yet ... and the more time they can put on and off the field the better they'll be."
South Sydney handed the highly-touted Luke Keary his first NRL match of the season after returning from his own pectoral complaint.
But despite scoring the Rabbitohs' only try, Keary never had a chance to fully flourish alongside Adam Reynolds after the No 7 hobbled through the second half with a badly twisted knee.
The Titans' upset three tries-to-one win inched them further away from wooden spoon territory and back into the finals equation having been winless since April 27.
"We lost six games in a row, but the last two we lost by a field goal and a late try in a game," Cartwright said. "We probably weren't going as bad as a lot of people thought. We were starting to play some decent footy on the back of an enormous injury count.
"We've had seven or eight different halves combinations in the middle of an Origin period. It's been a difficult period - Ashley Harrison retiring - and we certainly know how many injuries we've had."
Stand-in skipper Will Zillman, who assumed the reins in the absence of Origin stars Greg Bird, Nate Myles and Dave Taylor, hailed his side's backs-to-the-wall defensive effort.
"Given enough play-the-balls on the line they [South Sydney] will just roll over the top of teams and they'll end up scoring tries," he said. "We knew when they were taking penalty goals our defence was on song and they didn't really back themselves. It's a positive sign for us."
