On a night where they were supposed to show some pride and character, the Titans would suffer the heaviest loss since their inception in 2007. Captain Ryan James said it all afterwards: "They made us look like idiots."

Neil Henry wasn't able to coat it with any sugar either. In retro round, he said, this was a "good old-fashioned flogging"'.

Three first-half tries set up a 16-0 lead and sucked the life out of a contest that had been difficult to hype, even with the best efforts of Wayne Bennett, who was happy to suggest he coveted Titans halfback Ash Taylor once he was on the market in November.

The longer it went on, the worse it became for the home side. Playing like a team with a point to prove, to themselves as much as anyone, Brisbane might have encountered some sterner opposition in the Intrust Super Cup as they tore the Titans to shreds, running seven second-half tries.

Taylor did his best but was outplayed by his opposite number Kodi Nikorima, while Ben Hunt was a roaring success in his new role at dummy half, crossing late in the first half and twice in the second to ease concerns about the loss of Andrew McCullough (knee) for the season.

To make matters worse, Taylor would leave the field in the second half with concerns about his knee (suspected meniscus). The dressing room was probably the right place to be, given the way things were unfolding on the park. At least he could turn off the TV.

The only real blemish for Brisbane was the booking of forward Joe Ofahengaue, who was perhaps lucky to stay on the field after a nasty lifting tackle on Titans lock Max King.

It was retro round and this was the type of spearing tackle that had mostly disappeared from the game. Brisbane should plan on the youngster being on the sidelines for at least a few weeks and Bennett said he knew it didn't look pretty.

But it would be tough for Bennett to be in a bad mood after that sort of performance. He conceded during the week that the Eels ambushed them and they needed to lift their intensity heading into the final rounds, then the finals themselves.

They played their part but the Titans, already out of the post-season running, failed to play theirs. Jarryd Hayne (the $1.2 million man) had an unhappy night, making some poor decisions with the ball. His critics have some more fuel as they question his desire to succeed at the club.

"It was a pretty embarrassing loss," Henry said. "Big occasion for the club, big crowd. Certainly not up to standard.

"It's a tough place to be in at the moment. It's up to us to find something at the back end of the year. That's everyone. Our fans would be disappointed, we know that. We're fairly dejected."

There was nothing but smiles from Bennett in his coaching box. Maybe it was the scoreline, maybe it was the sight of Sam Thaiday playing a cameo at hooker to start the show, then again with five minutes to play. Maybe it was James Roberts having potshots at goal from the sidelines.

Perhaps that showed a lack of respect but you could equally argue the Titans didn't deserve a great deal. With 21,000 fans at Robina, this should have been their showpiece game. Instead, they were the ones who didn't show up to the party.

By the final minutes, Brisbane were more concerned about cracking the half-century than anything the Titans might throw at them. They were still hurling themselves around in defence and high-fiving Gold Coast errors like it was a grand final.

They would get their prize right on full-time, when Josh McGuire crashed over next to the posts to allow his team to raise the bat. That would be the 10th try to Brisbane, who were clearly stung by the Eels and went out to do some damage of their own.