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Speculation over Dave Taylor wanting out of his deal with the Gold Coast Titans began almost as soon as he confirmed he was headed to the Gold Coast, and it has been widely reported that the club’s perilous financial state was the reason Cooper Cronk decided not to take his talents to Southport.
The player who must really be questioning his decision to make the trip north, however, is Jamal Idris.
Idris has watched his former team the Bulldogs enjoy a solid start to the season under Des Hasler, one of the most successful coaches in the game. While that must grind while playing for a team with just one win, it’s what Idris isn’t watching that would be even more frustrating.
Specifically, he isn’t watching himself on telly.
Speaking days before Idris signed with his club, Michael Searle promised the Titans would help Idris create his own children’s TV show.
“As part of our desire to get Jamal here we are proposing him as a host for his own television show which we are going to put together.
“Our fan base is dominated by the four-to-18 age bracket and Jamal has enormous appeal in that area. We plan to produce a pilot show for Jamal and aim to get a network involved. A fallback would be to give him an internet television show which we would produce.”
Though Idris is only five rounds in to a five-year deal, no television show has been forthcoming and the likelihood of the Titans ever producing it are remote to say the least.
The Titans were in a position to make the offer in 2011 because they were the proud owners of a brand new Centre of Excellence. Alongside a 450-square-metre gym, 25-metre pool, two hydrotherapy pools, boardroom, office space and a bistro, it boasted an audio visual room capable of creating television programmes.
Fast forward almost a year to the day, and the training facility Searle described as being “unrivalled in this country and the envy of sporting teams the world over” is days away from being sold.
If the rumours are true, its market value won’t even cover half of the $30 million it cost to build.
The Titans still crow about this building on their website, and in fact finish the page on their Centre of Excellence saying, “Where in the past Searle and Chairman Paul Broughton used the Gold Coasts [sic] beauty, lifestyle and affordability to gain key signings, the Jetstar Titans players of the future will come, not just because they want to enjoy the perfect Gold Coast lifestyle, but because they want to train and play out of world class facilities.”
When asked why he was moving to the Titans last year, Idris said it was “about the package”.
And a five-year deal said to be worth $500,000 a season, his own TV show, and a club with the “world class facilities” to not only produce the TV show but also lead the league in terms of training and rehabilitation resources is a hell of a package.
But take away the TV, the training and rehab, and any certainty over years two through five of the contract, and that package is starting to look pretty meagre.
It must be said, though, Idris is one of a handful of Gold Coast players who doesn’t need to be too worried about his future. If the Titans do go under he’ll be snapped up by a rival club for equal money – possibly even more if the league has done particularly well in their new television deal.
Unfortunately Idris’s television deal looks as though it’s stuck in development.
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