Titans add experience with major signing coup

Riley, Seems like a lot of people don't have faith in the Titans future. Even though crowds are well and truly down I don't believe the hope in the community is down. It would be interesting to compare their merchandise sales to other clubs , I keep coming up blank.

I wish Kane Elgey didn't get injured. Oh well, I'm looking forward to Ashley Taylor. We'll make the finals in 2017 for sure

The reason the Titans are so many people's second team, is that they never existed when those people chose a first team. The AFL plays the long game. They aren't overly concerned about converting fans. It's the kids that grow up as GWS and GC Suns fans that they target. When they are adults and their kids are fans of the same team having grown up there, that's when these teams reach critical mass. Anybody who makes an investment they are willing to ditch when it works out in the short term have set themselves up for a loss.

Sam I dare say if you went around the globe and looked for a pattern that geography would be the biggest determinant of team selection and then success. I don't know if you can just say that geography has limited influence on the broncos level of support. They were super popular prior to winning a grand final or even making the finals, same with North Queensland etc. Success helps, sure, but following a sports team is like having a defacto community to be a part of.

Good point. This is why losing Roberts and not getting DCE is such a disaster. Kids follow players as much as they follow a team. Lets hope Kane Elgey and Ash Taylor really develop into something special.

eaglejack I don't think it will take 20 years. Just enough time to get trust and confidence back into the community and players willing to come to the club. Then we will see titans stickers on the coast.might see you at a game I'll have a Balmain cap on with at least 3 ten year olds in titans jumpers. Lol. Sam two can My grandfather took my brother and I to Leichardt from age 3 till our teens. Not much success from the tigers but a lifetime of the best memories. Cradle to the grave.

Well said All too often the focus is on the field when it is the back office structures and leadership that are the foundation for success. It looks like the Titans are moving in the right direction.

One of the big issues seems to be the tv contract and the requirement for them to have 8 games a week. Due to the inertia involve in getting any new club upto speed, this pretty much underwrites every current NRL club's continuance no matter what strife they get themselves into since there are no short term viable options waiting in the wings. This is what the whole of game strategy ought to have been addressing. Instead it came up with a few tactical suggestions and nothing that really takes the game forward. Are we so bereft of strategic thinkers in this country that we cannot lay down a roadmap for how this game goes forward after an entire year in the making ?

The NRL made a massive business mistake when they took on the GC license the way they did, all for the sake of the "optics." They should have taken back the license and forced the liquidation of the original business. Within a very short time frame (still by the start of the '15 season) they could have started a new business with the NRL as the licensee and still have had a GC team playing out of Robina. There was no way the Govt was not going to want the stadium used and rented in Winter. Under a new business structure they could also have renegotiated all leases and the uncommercial contracts that the old business had in place (including some staff / player contracts.) By taking on the Titans as a "going concern" they assumed all the existing obligations which were mostly done pre GFC and often above market rates or in today's market financially viable. Amazing really to see the NRL do things this way considering a banker was in charge. Maybe he was overruled in discussions? Granted. It would have looked bad and caused plenty of unrest and criticism by those who don't understand business but the benefits of putting an unviable business into administration then, when you see it is not sustainable as it stands quickly liquidating it, far outweigh the long term patch up result we see today. Or, they could have seen the Titans liquidated and started a second Brisbane side. Then they could have encouraged a Hawthorn / Tasmania type arrangement with the Brisbane side or even a Sydney club with a broad following like the Bulldogs and had them play a few games a year out of Robina.

G'day EJ. Mate I don't know your age but a was 7 and 8 when the roosters won in 74-5 and I've followed them ever since . I'm sure geography can effect others kids chosings but to better my argument the reason the Broncos have such a massive following is success.

That's the thing. I'm on the GC every week, and see plenty of Bulldogs, Roosters, Souths, Manly stickers on cars. Rarely, if ever, any Titans stickers. Or Suns for that matter if we want to bring AFL into it too. That's why even as a Manly fan, not known for travelling, we outnumber Titans supporters 2:1 at Robina. What Birdy is talking about is 20 years away. The NRL surely aren't dumb enough to wait that long to see some of the kids grow up and become fully fledged members.

You are probably right and that there is the biggest of problems. It shouldn't even be a consideration when evaluating a business's success or potential success. The AFL are also struggling on the Coast, pumping millions into the Suns franchise each and every year only to see crowds decline by 40% since inception. The GC is a graveyard for sporting teams. The NRL could quite easily move to a 2nd Brisbane team that plays occasionally out of Robina if need be. Keep a presence on the Coast but also be guaranteed a 20-30k average home crowd when played in Bris. That to me is a smarter option.

From my experience kids generally aren't all that fussed about winning or losing so much as getting behind their particular hero. It's not until we get older and more competitive that 'win at all costs' starts to kick in. If the criteria for supporting a team was success we would have kids running around in only half a dozen NRL teams gear. And that has never been the case. Provided the Titans front office continues to get strong, they'll begin to retain talent and attract new talent. Obviously it takes time and hard work but they at least have a plan now and a sense of direction, something that's been lacking in the past.

Last season maybe.

Birdy I think you give us all an idea of what may be the issue when you say they are you "second team" . They probably need to be fans first team but without success kids will never follow them .

The signing of s drug sniffer dog my have been more useful.

Don't know if the Titans days are numbered or not. Everywhere around the coast and up as far as Logan you see kids in Titans gear, on the odd occasion picking up the grand kids from school all the kids have titans caps , school bags foot balls etc. I'd like to see how their merchandise sales compare to other clubs. Also a lot of people like me living in the SE have them as their second team . If the head office can convert their support to bums on seats then the a Titans are staying put. There seems to be a whole generation of Titans supporters not even out of their teens waiting to make their own way to Cbus stadium.

There is no way the NRL is going to give up on the Titans when the AFL are desperately trying to establish themselves in the region. They just need a bit of on field success and some local talent and I think things will turn around very quickly in terms of support.

Maybe this releases Graham Annesley to replace Smithy at HQ.

Hadn't thought of that. Perhaps Brian has been added for more depth in the halves?!