Up against unbeaten South Sydney, his team, on the hunt for only their second victory of the season, gave their rivals a good head start but then roared back in the second half only to see the Rabbitohs strike back in the final minutes.
The home side took the lead only in the 62nd minute thanks to a Pita Godinet try, who scored straight after Konrad Hurrell and the impressive Ngani Laumape as the Warriors shifted up several gears following an ordinary first half in which they gifted the Rabbitohs three tries.
Unfortunately for them it was a lead held for only five minutes or so, the Rabbitohs striking back through George Burgess, who powered through three defenders and placed the ball on the line.
It was a typical rollercoaster ride from the Warriors, who thrilled the crowd with their comeback after a flat first half.
Two wild passes from Kevin Locke and Ben Matulino found two of the quickest Rabbitohs in Nathan Merritt and Greg Inglis and it was 12-0 thanks to two Adam Reynolds conversions.
Remarkably, it was Merritt's eighth try in five games. For Inglis, it was his 100th career try.
The problem for Elliott, apart from trying to instil some consistency into his team, is to temper his players' willingness to offload, which can pay rich dividends, with some common sense.
He saw Matulino redeem himself with a try, the interchange forward running on to Shaun Johnson's pass and over Inglis to score by the posts.
But then Matulino committed the ultimate error of losing the ball in the first hit-up from the re-start, the Rabbitohs quickly striking back through Bryson Goodwin to make it 18-6 before the break. It was a tough mental blow for the Warriors, who were struggling to breach a solid defence. Before Matulino's try they had threatened only once - the impressive Ngani Laumape judged by the television match official to have knocked on in the act of scoring.
The Warriors had been boosted by the return of prop Russell Packer, back earlier than expected from a biceps injury, and winger Manu Vatuvei.
Vatuvei, out due to injury since round one, had few opportunities on attack in front of a crowd of 13,500, but he made his presence felt on defence.
The Warriors needed to score first after the break to have any chance and they did through Laumape, who went over for his first try at this level in his third game. He did extremely well to stoop for a pass and force his way through two would-be tacklers. The winger impressed with his work rate and looks a good prospect. Apart from the ultimately doomed comeback, he was a positive for Elliott.
Suitably energised, Hurrell was the next to score when he provided the thrust to an angled Locke run near the Rabbitohs line.
Straight after the re-start they broke out again, with Godinet the scorer, but the Rabbitohs, in one of their few forays into Warriors territory in the second half, clinched it with Burgess' try and Reynolds conversion.
Rabbitohs 24 (Nathan Merritt, Greg Inglis, Bryson Goodwin, George Burgess tries; Adam Reynolds 3 goals), Warriors 22 (Ben Matulino, Ngani Laumape, Konrad Hurrell, Pita Godinet tries; Shaun Johnson 3 goals) HT: 18-6
