Where there is life, there is hope – but it seems no one has shared the famous Chinese proverb with Gold Coast captain Scott Prince.

Technically the Titans are still alive in the NRL finals race but Prince sounded like the NRL’s equivalent of a dead man walking on Monday.

To pull off a finals miracle, the Gold Coast need Brisbane and Wests Tigers to lose then thrash defending champions Manly at Skilled Park on Saturday.

Prince wasn’t holding his breath.

“There’s still a glimmer of hope but when you start talking like that you know you are not a chance,” he said.

Rather than plan a last gasp top eight tilt, Prince was more concerned with saving face this weekend after the Titans sabotaged their finals chances with a surprise 36-22 last round loss to lowly Penrith.

The Gold Coast missed 44 tackles – 10 alone by Prince.

Asked what went wrong against the Panthers, Prince said: “A lot of things – you can’t just pinpoint one area which we were poor at.

“I think overall it was really disappointing to have the opportunity to stay in touch with the eight and keep our dream alive and perform the way we did.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet.

“We missed a golden opportunity but we get another chance to redeem ourselves.”

That will be easier said than done considering the Titans’ walking wounded.

Gold Coast coach John Cartwright was expected to rest eight players including stars Nate Myles (sternum), Ashley Harrison (hip) and Greg Bird (ribs) for what he thought was a dead rubber against Manly.

However, he will roll the dice on his injury concerns if they are a mathematical finals chance on Saturday.

However, hooker Matt Srama (shoulder) and five-eighth Aidan Sezer (knee) are expected to miss out.

Wests Tigers’ 44-20 shock loss to the Sydney Roosters last round kept the finals door slightly ajar for the Titans.

“We spoke as a team that we want to finish the season on a high,” Prince said.

“You don’t want to back up a poor performance with another leading into … the Christmas break – it’s a long time to suck it in.”

Beau Falloon is expected to step up at rake for the injured Srama.

“I can’t put my finger on it,” Falloon said of the last round loss.

“We weren’t ourselves down there. But that game is gone now – we have to move on.

“We are not thinking about (finals) that much but if we put in a good performance together who knows what can happen.”