St George Illawarra have failed to live up to expectations since Wayne Bennett’s departure but ace fullback Brett Morris believes it’s wrong to blame the mastermind’s successor.

Morris is adamant the Dragons aren’t panicking – despite one win from their past six NRL matches and a tentative hold on 11th spot on the ladder.

A loss to 10th-placed Gold Coast at home on Friday night would further test the faith of fans and put first-year coach Steve Price under more pressure.

Finals seem a distant prospect, and Morris admits there’s a lot of work required for his side to slip back into the top eight.

But he’s convinced Price is capable of engineering such a turnaround.

“Pricey’s been great. I’ve been under Pricey for a long time now – a couple of years,” Morris said.

“(With) Pricey you know where you stand with him, and he knows how to do his job and he does it well.

“It’s a shame we haven’t been getting results for him but I can’t speak highly enough of Pricey.

“He never leaves you unprepared for a game. It’s us (the players) that’s got to fight our way out of this.”

Morris said Price had been upbeat despite some underwhelming performances, and that the optimism had rubbed off on the players.

“There’s still a long time to go in this competition, we’re not panicking,” he said.

“We know we’ve got a lot of work to do to try and get back up there to the eight but everyone is positive and upbeat.”

While golden-point losses to Penrith and South Sydney have been perhaps the most gutting results for supporters – Morris said those games had been a source of confidence for the team.

“It’s easy to keep positive, we’re not playing too bad.

“We’ve lost two games in golden point, if we won them we’d be in the eight. Sometimes you get the wrong bounce and the hard calls but you’ve just got to deal with it.

“You play 26 rounds and we’ve got plenty of time for us to turn it around.”

With Manly second-rower Glenn Stewart set to miss the State of Origin decider due to a knee injury, Beau Scott will be hoping to remind NSW selectors of his talent when St George Illawarra host the Titans.

Scott was ruled out of the Origin opener due to a dislocated elbow he suffered in the Dragons’ epic Anzac Day win over Sydney Roosters.