You never quite know whether Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde is about to turn up when it comes to Josh Reynolds: blindingly good one minute and maddeningly mediocre the next.

The licorice all-sorts that was Reynolds provided three try assists – including the match leveller for the Titans – a couple of bone-jarring tackles in defence, a customary referee spray and wobbly kicks.

Oh, and the winning field goal in golden point just for good measure.

It was all part of the roller coaster that is jack-in-a-box Josh, the unlikely hero of the Bulldogs' baffling 21-20 win over a stubborn Gold Coast at ANZ Stadium on Saturday.

No wonder Laurie Daley is pulling his locks out trying to figure out NSW's halves dilemma when Reynolds can revert from hero to villain and back again in the blink of an eye.

"[Reynolds] would have been very lonely out there at one stage, but he held it together and came up with the big play," Bulldogs coach Des Hasler said of his five-eighth's heroics as time ticked down on the first half of golden point.

Only 15 minutes earlier, Reynolds – after laying on a try either side of half-time for Sam Perrett and fellow NSW hopeful Josh Jackson with contrasting passes – had batted a Moses Mbye bomb backwards and into the path of Josh Hoffman. The Titans jet raced 75 metres to score as the Bulldogs frittered away a 12-point lead when it appeared they would amble to victory.

The NRL's biggest mystery this season was writing another chapter not many would have thought possible.

But as both sides botched one-point attempts before and after full-time, Reynolds stepped up to the plate and calmly iced the game for rugby league's ultimate head scratchers.

Consistently inconsistent is the best way to put their season so far. They've traded wins and losses on alternate weeks since round two. Parramatta will be well and truly primed to preserve that streak in the looming Friday night blockbuster.

Asked why his side has been so topsy turvy this year, Hasler said: "It's a good question ... it's a very good question. That's what we're working on."

The answer, Dessy? "We're working on it."

But surely the "Mad Scientist" knows. At least he recognises the problem.

"I said to them at half-time there's three sides out there today," Hasler said. "The Titans playing us, us playing the Titans and we were bashing ourselves up a couple of times.

"We very nearly paid a heavy penalty for not closing the game out this week. I don't think we'll get away so lightly [against Parramatta]."

For all the double-figure leads they've surrendered in recent weeks, Neil Henry's Titans just don't seem to know when they're beaten.

But as the coach knows only too well, wins is the only currency his caper deals in. And there haven't been many of them lately.

"The boys can hold their heads up high with that performance," Henry said. "[But] at the end of the day we haven't got two competition points and we've had four losses on the trot.

"They're dejected because we're not getting the wins, but we've been up to the task of being competitive every week."

Having slumped to a 14-8 deficit at the break after the Bulldogs back three of Perrett, Curtis Rona and Will Hopoate all touched down, the Titans were rejuvenated once Greg Bird returned from a second-half concussion test.

And they had every right to be privately seething after Tim Browne appeared to catch the lock flush with a high shot near half-way with only minutes left, a golden opportunity for the Titans to finish the game in prime real estate. It went without sanction.

"I definitely thought he got me right around the lip," said Bird, who stayed down to receive attention. "You play the referee's whistle and whatever happens happens I guess.

"I wish effort and enthusiasm meant wins, but at the moment it doesn't. We need to start putting a bit of polish in our football as well."