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A Mitchell Pearce field goal has kicked Newcastle into the NRL finals while denting Gold Coast's top-eight hopes in a 15-14 win on the Sunshine Coast.

Newcastle are into a second straight NRL finals series after a last-minute Mitchell Pearce field goal kicked them to a 15-14 win and left Gold Coast's hopes of a top-eight return in disarray.

In a dramatic finale to the opening game of the penultimate round, Pearce nailed a field goal from 25 metres out with 15 seconds to play to seal the crucial victory over the Titans on Thursday.

It moves Newcastle six points clear of the chasing pack in seventh, securing their second straight finals appearance with one round to play.

But it comes as a killer blow to Gold Coast.

Widely tipped to be the biggest improvers of the 2021 season after finishing last year with five straight wins and recruiting strongly, the Titans now need a minor miracle.

They will need to beat the Warriors and hope that neither Canberra or Cronulla win both of their last two games.

The Raiders face the Warriors on Friday night before clashing with the Sydney Roosters next week, while Cronulla have Brisbane this weekend and Melbourne in round 25.

While the Storm clash should be a difficult one for the Sharks, there is every chance Melbourne will rest a bulk of players and make life much easier.

Gold Coast will also need to make up a 15-point disadvantage in for-and-against to the Sharks, making the Titans life even harder.

"I couldn't say much," gutted Titans coach Justin Holbrook admitted.

"Just thanks for the effort and we'll reassess tomorrow. We'll sit back and see if results go our way over the weekend."

In one of their best defensive nights of the season, Kalyn Ponga still proved too big of a threat for the Titans.

After Gold Coast scored first through Phillip Sami, Ponga hit back when he charged onto the ball at first-receiver and made it 6-6.

Then after a rampaging David Fifita gave the Titans a 12-6 lead on the break, it was Ponga again who put Pearce over with 20 minutes to go to make it 12-12.

Both sides then traded penalty goals and missed field goal shots, with Titans centre Patrick Herbert sending his attempt wide and Jake Clifford's charged down.

But it was Pearce who stepped up, nailing the most crucial kick of Newcastle's season and booting them into just their second finals series in eight years.

"He was huge, he was really good," coach Adam O'Brien said.

"He shouldered a lot of the frustration of the team last week.

"When we were dissecting our attack against the Bulldogs, I could see Junior was taking a lot of it on his shoulders and that wasn't really right.

"Champions stand up in the big moments and that's what he did. He and Cliff, we are 100 per cent record with those guys together."

The only concern for Newcastle could be hooker Jayden Brailey being placed on report for a crusher tackle.

However a grade-one charge would leave him available for the finals with an early guilty plea.