Having slumped to a second straight heavy loss and being pushed out of the top eight by Friday night's conquerors Gold Coast, McGregor stopped short of promising sweeping changes despite an "unacceptable" record loss against the NRL's surprise packet.

"You always talk about [personnel changes], but it's very hard when you've got a salary cap and second tier cap and we've already used 27 players [this year]," McGregor said.

"It's very hard to change it around too much and a lot of things come into play there. We have to sit back and have a look. To say I'm happy with what happened tonight ... no I'm not. I'm guided a little bit too by player depth and who's available."

The Dragons' State of Origin representative Josh Dugan underwent surgery on his broken jaw on Friday and is expected to miss a month, but McGregor confirmed Benji Marshall (hamstring) is in line to return for the pivotal clash against his former club.

St George Illawarra medical staff ruled the halfback out of the 32-12 drubbing against the Gold Coast at UOW Jubilee Oval on Friday night in what was supposed to be his 250th NRL match. And able deputies appear few and far between.

Pressed on the Dragons' salary cap jigsaw, McGregor said: "I think everyone at this time [is struggling]. Especially when you've already used 27 players.

"Benny Creagh has been out since round three, Mose Masoe hasn't played this year ... they're both under the cap still and Duges is out for a month. It's very hard to look from outside – you've just got to look from within – and start challenging each other. The players need to start doing that as well because it's not acceptable."

Dragons skipper Gareth Widdop admitted his squad "were not turning up and doing their jobs" with their horrendous points differential - the difference between them and the Titans on the cusp of the top eight - likely to count against the joint venture in the finals run-in.

Gold Coast coach Neil Henry has worked wonders with his squad having added Nathan Peats and Konrad Hurrell mid-year, a salary cap luxury the Titans had hoped to take advantage of as they edged right into the final frame.

"I thought we had a chance [to make the finals at the start of the season]," Henry said. "We sat down and talked about what our goals were and that was to make the top eight and play finals footy.

"We had a roster that wasn't complete at that stage and we had a bit of money in the cap for a couple of positions. We deliberately left it late and we were fortunate enough to pick up Konrad Hurrell and Nathan Peats and they're ready made first graders.

"We've got to sustain it and if we get a bit more consistency hopefully we can hang on."

The Titans face an anxious wait over firebrand Greg Bird being put on report after the State of Origin discard clocked Widdop high late in the first half. Bird, the most suspended active player in the competition, will learn his fate on Saturday.

"I think it was a bit careless and it was a bit high, but I think penalty was sufficient," Henry said. "We'll wait and see."