Gold Coast coach John Cartwright paid tribute to stubborn forward Nate Myles after the Queensland Origin back-rower carried a painful sternum injury through most of the Titans’ season-saving 14-10 NRL win over Brisbane on Friday night.

Myles’ courage to continue playing after taking a savage blow to his chest in the first half typified the Gold Coast’s desperation to beat “big brother” Brisbane in front of the their biggest crowd of the season.

Cartwright described Myles as a week-to-week proposition as he battles the injury he initially picked up playing for the Maroons in the State of Origin series.

Myles could barley stand upright just before halftime but with the game in the balance at 6-6, he courageously came out for the second half.

“He’s one of those guys who’ll never say (take me off) – you just have to watch his body language,” said Cartwright.

“He needed a rest, you could tell. He was in a fair bit of pain.

“The trainers were saying `get him out of there’.

“It’s a sternum and they’re painful and copped a bit of a blow on it so we’ll have to see how it settles down.”

Cartwright described the much-needed win on the back of a rare eight-point try to prop Luke Bailey in the 62nd minute as “very courageous”.

“We had a lot of injuries during the course of the game and players battling on for big minutes with injuries and others playing out of position against a quality side like the Broncos,” he said.

There’s no doubt the Titans’ first win over Brisbane in seven meetings since 2009 will give the Titans a lift with representative players Greg Bird (pectoral muscle) and Ashley Harrison (toe) both expected back next weekend against the Sydney Roosters.

While Cartwright played down the rivalry talk between the two clubs, he admitted the Titans’ record against Brisbane hadn’t been flash.

“We haven’t got much of a record against the Broncos – we’ve been living in their shadow a bit,” he said.

Cartwright said back-to-back wins over Canberra and Brisbane plus the fact his side had also knocked over quality sides like Manly and Canterbury gave them confidence as they fight to keep their top-eight quest alive.

“To keep a side like that who throw so much at you to 10 points is always good,” he said.

“None of us (players) want this feeling to end.

“When you’ve got that feeling, you can move mountains.”