New dad David Stagg says Brisbane's defence needs a cold shower if it's to put the clamps on Scott Prince in Friday night's derby with the Titans at Suncorp Stadium.

Brisbane utility Stagg greeted the press with weary eyes at Red Hill this morning, less then a week into his new role as father to daughter Paige.

While juggling night duties with wife Temika has seen him indulge in his fair share of early morning television, Stagg would do well to avoid the replays of his side's 24-20 loss to St George Illawarra, which included some costly defensive lapses as the Dragons recovered from a 12-0 deficit.

Stagg admitted his side lacked desperation in their defensive duties, a disturbing trait they will need to reverse against a Titans side bolstered by star halfback Prince and fighting tooth and nail to stay in finals contention.

He also said two straight losses after the impressive win over the Raiders had been a "reality check" for Brisbane's premiership aspirations.

"You have a look at the ladder and you've got quite a few teams banked up, and that includes ourselves. We've got to put our best foot forward," Stagg said.

"We won four in a row, we had some momentum building. To lose the last couple of weeks has slowed things up a bit, but it's probably a good reality check, giving us a good opportunity to see where we're at leading into the next few weeks."

The Titans, who overcame the Cowboys on the back of the brilliance of the returning Prince, shouldn't get too cocky ahead of their trip up the M1.

Brisbane will be a different beast this week as the club welcomes back heavyweights Karmichael Hunt, Justin Hodges, Tonie Carroll and Greg Eastwood.

"They certainly bring a lot of attacking opportunities for us. In saying that, our defence wasn't the best on the weekend either. Having all four of them back is going to be a good thing," said Stagg.