With three wins separating the eighth-placed New Zealand Warriors and Canberra Raiders in ninth, the NRL’s finals line-up looks locked in after just 17 rounds.

Gold Coast Titans coach Garth Brennan pulled no punches in his assessment of a 34-0 loss to Brisbane Broncos on Sunday afternoon that dashed his side’s post-season dreams.

The Titans now sit 11th, four games out of the top eight, but they could have closed the gap to two wins against their Queensland rivals.

“We were never in the fight,” Brennan said.

“It was a day where we probably beat ourselves. Too many errors in that first half … Brisbane’s a quality side and we didn’t build pressure.

“If we play like that, we deserve not to be in the semi-finals.

“We’ll get back on Monday and keep working hard … but it was a step back. There’s no doubt about that.”

The Titans made error after error and had a poor completion rate of just 65 per cent in a contest highlighted by Kotoni Staggs’ 19th-minute try.

The Broncos, who led through Kodi Nikorima’s opener, were actually on the back foot until Staggs scored, with two contentious refereeing decisions going their way as the Titans pressed to level proceedings.

But once Staggs stormed away from Michael Gordon to cross, the Broncos dominated, Darius Boyd, Joe Ofahengaue and Jonus Pearson adding tries of their own in the one-sided thrashing.

Raiders post amazing comeback win … but still get a blast

Trailing 28-14 with just six minutes left, Canberra looked gone for all money against Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on Saturday evening.

But Blake Austin, dropped to the bench, inspired a sensational comeback as the Raiders scored three late tries to win 32-28 in thrilling circumstances.

Austin started the fightback with a try of his own before Joseph Tapine crossed, and then, in the final set of the match, Austin made a telling line break that helped centre Joseph Leilua eventually cross in the corner.

Austin proved the difference. Photo: Getty

With three tries, four conversions and two penalties, Rhyse Martin was outstanding for the Bulldogs, contributing 24 points.

Martin’s haul was the most by an individual player in a losing side in NRL history, but it mattered little as the Raiders stole it at the death.

Not that coach Ricky Stuart was happy.

“We were pathetic tonight,” he said.

“We’ve been on the receiving end like that for a couple of years now where we’ve probably been the better team but we get run down … I know exactly what they’re feeling in the other change room.

“We tried to take short cuts tonight … and we were very, very poor and undisciplined.”

Stuart did at least praise Austin, insisting “he won that for us just coming on and giving us that extra spark”.

Victory keeps the Raiders within three matches of the Warriors, who were thumped 36-4 by an Origin-affected Penrith Panthers on Friday.

St George Illawarra also missed its Origin stars but did not cope anywhere near as well, the Dragons beaten 52-30 by Melbourne in a Thursday night thriller.

Defeat for the Dragons saw them drop to second on the ladder, with South Sydney rising to first – without even playing.

Just four matches were scheduled in Round 17 due to Wednesday night’s State of Origin clash at Suncorp Stadium.

New South Wales leads the three-match series 2-0.