The last thing Gold Coast coach John Cartwright needed three days after Wayne Bennett announced he’s looking for a new job next year was a big home defeat to a struggling Canberra side.
The former Test forward has been at the helm of the Titans since the club’s debut season in 2007 and is believed to have one of the most secure jobs in the NRL.
Cartwright guided the club to its best-ever finish in 2010 when the Titans reached the preliminary final and was rewarded with a five-year contract.
However, that was the last time the Titans finished in the top eight and Sunday’s 36-20 loss to second-last Canberra was the seventh defeat in their past eight games – and a sixth straight at Cbus Super Stadium.
Since signing his current deal, which expires at the end of 2016, Cartwright has won just 34 of 88 games.
And the availability of Bennett, who quits Newcastle at the end of this season, is certain to increase speculation about his future with the former Brisbane and St George Illawarra coach’s family still based in south-east Queensland.
The seven-time premiership-winning mentor celebrated 700 games with a remarkable 31-18 win over a Cronulla side that led 18-0 two minutes before halftime.
Knights fullback Darius Boyd, in a rare interview, said Bennett, who is the only coach he has ever played under, let his players know his displeasure at halftime.
“He wasn’t happy at all … but to get a win for him in his 700th game was pretty pleasing,” Boyd told Triple M radio.
The Queensland star also said he had no regrets about his behaviour towards a Network Seven journalist who approached him getting into his car after Wednesday’s State of Origin clash and explained why he dislikes the media so much.
“The way they came at me without asking me if I wanted to do an interview, I didn’t like it,” he said.
“I felt like I did something wrong which I hadn’t.
“If I’d agreed to the interview then fine, but I didn’t like the way that she bombarded me.
“I’ve had too many run-ins, with bad stories … I know it is part of the game, but I don’t like it.”
On Saturday the Warriors moved up to sixth spot on the ladder with a 48-0 win over Parramatta to make it five wins in the last six games.
Two tries from Sam Tomkins and Shaun Johnson’s 20-point haul were key to the win but coach Andrew McFadden, who replaced Matt Elliott in round five, said it was too early to start thinking about a top-four finish.
“We’ve just got to keep working hard,” McFadden said.
“Points don’t always come that easy and it definitely won’t next week against Brisbane so we certainly can’t get too far ahead of ourselves.”
For the Eels it was a disastrous result with talisman Jarryd Hayne missing the game following his State of Origin exertions.
It was the 22nd time in 26 games the Eels have lost when the superstar fullback has been unavailable.
Canterbury scored a first win in Melbourne in nine years on Saturday, holding out the Storm 6-4 in an arm wrestle of a game at AAMI Park.
The Bulldogs are second on the ladder on points differential to Manly who saw off Wests Tigers 40-8 on Friday.
tigerdave
Guest
Scott, Darius has form in this respect. His "arranged" interviews wihe at St George were just one line answers. Either he has trouble talking and is an extremely slow thinker, or he takes the fans for fools. Love them or hate them, the Media agreement was over a Billion dollars. He need to realise what side his bread is buttered on. He is an embarassement to the league and himself.
richard brockhurst
Guest
The Titans would welcome Bennet with open arms. Cartright is definitely on the outer after all these years. Bring it on.
scott
Guest
From what Boyd has said it sounds like ge would have been happy to "give something back" had the reporter arranged an interview instead of just lobbing up unannounced and shoving a mike in his face.
tigerdave
Guest
Yeas again thank you for the insights and very accurate information. The Gold Coast was ready for a side, there was great excitement. Friends and I had 2 corporate boxes. We were treated like lepers and cancelled after 4 years. Not 1 phone call to try to save or redirect dollars to individual memberships. Result...loss of close to 20 league supporters and big bucks. They are hopeless.
PJB
Guest
Tigerdave, one thing you have forgotten is that the Titans recruitment team will never get the boot as it's boss is one Tom Searle father of Michael. The football manager is Scott Clarke nephew of Bob Clark the man who has a financial interest in the club, until all the nepotism within the club has been removed nothing will change.
Arnold Krewanty
Guest
Hit the nail on the head with all of the disgraceful predicament the Titans are in. Many Titans fans fear the club will go the way of the previous entities thanks to the chronic mismanagement of the club. Cartwright will not fall on his sword, because no one else would employ him as a head coach. Titans are dead broke, and stuck with a small group of incompetent coaching staff.
tigerdave
Guest
Maybe he would be a goof fit for the club, but I don't think the club could afford him. They would need to payout Cartgwright $1m. Thanks to the stupidity of Searle signing him to a 5 year contract. I wholeheartedly agree that they are ailienating League fans. It's the boring game plan they play. Their strength is in the forwards and they play predominately in the middle third of the field. Look at the Idris experiment, Cartwrights game plan seemed to have him receiving the ball in traffic, becaause thats what happened. Loojk at how Clearly has him isolating defenders and Idris using his mass to advantage. Searle did a great job getting the Titans up and running, he is doing an equally good job at destroying them. Their under 20's have hovered at the bottom of the ladder since inception of the competition. Why? We have on of the bigget junior clubs in Qld in the Burleigh Bears, we have a big area to draw on and we end up with a fist full of non performers. The development and recruitment people shud be sacked immediately. This is a club on the slippery slope to oblivion. I'm coming fom a position that was a Box holder and member whent hey opened. As you can see from my tag, I'm back at another club. I travelled to Brisbane to see Manly play Broncos recently, and there were carriage loans of ZBronco supporters travelling over an hour down the road to see them play. It's a mwrketing disgrace. They seem to think $10 tickets will fix it. Te problem is the product. I paid the same price and travelled to tweed to see the QCUP game.;
tigerdave
Guest
He's happy enough to take the bucks from the public but won't give anything back? I
Case
Guest
Just as a sidebar.....I thought that Darius Boyds comments about his media issues were spot on.
ferret
Guest
Bennett would be the perfect fit for the Titans, as he is a club-building coach (the Knights NYC currently sit top of the ladder). I don't think he is the best coach in the NRL at present (Hasler, Toovey, Bellamy are better) but he would be a huge improvement for the Titans. Also it would do more for rugby league in general if someone made the Titans a competitive team for such a large part of SE Qld. The Dragons will always be a huge club, irrespective of who coaches them. The Titans risk going the way of the other GC franchises and alienating a large rugby league market to maybe the Suns.
Jacksyd
Guest
Cartwright's record speaks for itself. Long overdue for a serious coach.