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Brisbane conceded 22 points then scored 36 of their own to register their greatest NRL comeback in an incredible win over Gold Coast.

Brisbane have staged their greatest NRL comeback, beating Gold Coast 36-28 despite the Titans scoring four times in the opening 13 minutes of an incredible derby.

The Broncos trailed 22-0 after 15 minutes in Friday night's clash and looked all at sea before scoring 36 consecutive points to eclipse their previous-best 18-point comeback against Canberra 15 years ago.

The win was Brisbane's first against a team other than Canterbury since round two last year, while Titans coach Justin Holbrook likened his side's "horrible" defence to that of an under-20s team as they slumped to 3-5.

A helter-skelter first half began with Jamal Fogarty grubbering twice and Ashley Taylor once to set up three easy tries and completely expose Broncos fullback Jamayne Isaako.

Isaako also kicked a restart out on the full but, staring down a 24th loss from their last 26 games, he was the one who also turned the tide for the under-fire Brisbane team.

The fullback dominated the remainder of the contest, scoring twice and setting up two more as Brisbane, remarkably, drew level at halftime before edging ahead and holding the Titans off in the final stages.

"We're breaking records all the time this year. That's a good one to break," Brisbane coach Kevin Walters joked.

"But it just shows that they can do it."

The turning point came when Alexander Brimson was sin-binned for slowing the play in the lead-up to a try, a fired-up Tyson Gamble letting him know about it as the surprise inclusion breathed some life into the hosts' performance.

In just his fourth NRL game in four seasons, the well-built 24-year-old halfback carried the ball strongly to the line and allowed Anthony Milford - back after two weeks in reserve grade - and Isaako space to create and expose some listless Titans defence that slipped off 21 first-half tackles.

"The minute they got the ball, we couldn't stop them ... I feel like I'm back coaching under-20s footy again. The last few weeks, it's been horrible," deflated Titans coach Justin Holbrook said.

"We're not defending well enough with 13 men. We actually need 14, not 12 (after the sin-bin).

"It's so many of us making the wrong decisions when we don't have the ball.

The Titans steadied somewhat after halftime but Corey Oates broke the game open again when he ran 95 metres after intercepting a Taylor pass to put the hosts ahead.

Former Titan Jesse Arthars scored off another Isaako pass before Fogarty kicked a goal-line drop out out on the full, Isaako's penalty goal putting Brisbane ahead by 14 with 17 minutes to play.

Mitch Rein finally found the line for the Titans either side of disallowed tries to David Fifita, who had chased his own grubber kicks.

In-form Titans winger Corey Thompson suffered an ankle injury while the game finished with both sides in a tangle and the rivalry renewed as Brisbane snapped a three-game losing streak against their neighbours.