On Sunday, Garth Brennan was sacked as Gold Coast coach after the Titans’ insipid 24-2 loss to Penrith on Friday.
There have already been whispers about who Brennan’s replacement may be – perhaps Kevin Walters or Mal Meninga. I question both these appointments.
Just because a coach is good at a representative level, it doesn’t mean they will have success at a club level.
I have seen nothing from Kevin Walters that suggests he is the man to take the Gold Coast Titans from pretenders to contenders. Were Queensland particularly well coached throughout this State of Origin series?
And while Mal Meninga may be the man to instil culture, discipline and a sense of belonging into a team, is he a man who has enough strategic vision to change a club?
Mal Meninga isn’t cut out to replace Garth Brennan at the helm of the Titans. (AAP Image/Darren England)
But the problem at the Gold Coast Titans is far wider than simply their coach.
If I were running the Titans, I would be tempted to shut up shop and start again.
The biggest problem with the club is a lack of identity or, if they have an identity, it’s the wrong one for the region that the Titans represent.
A hot topic for NRL fans and the administration of our game is expansion. Throughout the year, there has been talk of a second Brisbane team. Brisbane is not the Gold Coast, but if there is a push for a second club in Brisbane, that tells me there is plenty of talent in Queensland.
My question is why don’t the Titans have a careful think about their recruitment and focus on players from their local area?
Look at some of their recruits in recent years. Shannon Boyd on big money (why, I’m not sure), Ryley Jacks (who has lost some of his Melbourne Storm sparkle) and the disaster that has been Tyrone Peachey.
Shannon Boyd has disappointed on the Gold Coast. (Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Many have felt some sympathy for the Titans regarding Peachey, but the reality was Peachey made it very clear that he did not want to play for the Titans. If a player outright says that they do not want to come to your club, I wonder why the Titans insisted on going ahead with it.
This is especially the case given that the Titans have one of the best rugby league junior nurseries within their grasp at Keebra Park, which is in the Gold Coast suburb of Southport.
Think of some of the players who have come out of that school to play for other clubs – particularly the Broncos, who have pilfered that production line – like David Fifita, Payne Haas and Tautau Moga.
Some of the Titans’ best performers have come from that school, including Jai Arrow, Alex Brimson and Tyrone Roberts. That suggests this is a school that the Titans should focus more on.
The club should embrace that they are a team from Queensland. Consider their colours: light blue, gold, white and navy.
On the face of it, this might not seem like a big deal. But remember, the Titans are meant to represent Queensland. The arch enemies of Queenslanders are New South Welshmen. The colours of New South Wales are blue, so why is a Queensland team wearing blue?
Perhaps a more appropriate suite of colours for the Titans would have been red?
The finish of the 2019 season is going to be a close one. We have an exceptionally congested ladder and almost any team can make the finals. The only teams I’m ruling out at this stage are the Bulldogs and the Titans.
The Gold Coast have made the right decision to get rid of their coach, because after watching their performance against Penrith on Friday night, things can’t get much worse.
Adz Sportz
Roar Guru
Hi Mary, I strongly disagree that they should embrace being a Queensland club, because they represent, or should be representing a greater region that extends south of the tweed, perhaps all the way to Ballina. Fast growing areas, large junior base. I don't think the Titans brand should be squashed into the southeast corner of Queensland only. Identity would be building the club on the back of local talent.
Gus O
Roar Rookie
imagine big Mal sitting at a keyboard typing his report.
Harvey Wilson
Roar Rookie
Paul McGregor is next, odds on. How is he even still there I do not know.
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
That may very well be true. Either way, they have to work with what they’ve got, both in terms of recruitment strategy and managing the players they do recruit.
matth
Roar Guru
There used to be a Gold Coast basketball team in the national comp but I believe it folded
matth
Roar Guru
He was called Neil Henry and the club chose the Hayne culture over hard work
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
Mal used to coach Canberra. He learnt from that experience the traits of poor coaching.
nrlfan
Roar Rookie
Yeh, it's hard to work out what's wrong there. Being on the bottom of the ladder, lots of losses and recent specualtion about Brennans job might be getting to them. But they should be putting in 100% regardless of spot on the ladder. Look at the bulldogs and the way they played the other day vs the knights, they've still got plenty of pride in the jersey and the desire to play for teamates, coach and supporters.
nrlfan
Roar Rookie
re: Peachy, he had a change of heart, realised how much he and his family liked the area of penrith and the club itself. DCE did the same thing to the titans. The titans made Peachy honour his contract because it was after the deadline and if he told the titans before the deadline, they would have had time to try and sign another player instead, so it's understandable from a titans perspective.
Big Daddy
Guest
Agree 100 %. I mentioned something similar in another article today. How can they think about expansion when they can't fix the problems that already exist. They talk about crowds being up but if you take the crowds from Brisbane, Newcastle and some of the other regional centres the Sydney clubs don't offer much. And now we have the NSW coach saying they should be relocated. The rugby league world does exist outside Sydney.
nrlfan
Roar Rookie
Totally agree, i think either of those two coaches would be a great fit but especially Toovey. But both those guys probably don't want to up end their family and move over there. I guess Griffin moved between brisbane and sydney though.
nrlfan
Roar Rookie
Well if it is a party lifestyle, could that be one of the reasons they never seem to get a roll on? Probably not. But I think the raiders location and country town vibe probably helps the players bond better as its a small town. And when you live in a place like that the players tend to focus on football more.
Albo
Roar Rookie
But it is more than just ignoring the local talent. The Titans miss the opportunity to develop a real Gold Coast team with its own special identity and hunger for success from a group of fostered and developed local talent. Its what Parramatta & Canterbury had in the 80’s , and what the Raiders & Panthers & Newcastle had in the 90’s . They can’t buy success by trying to import it. The best NRL cattle still have better options elsewhere.
Big Daddy
Guest
Interesting comment from Dennis Watt the CEO that we are all judged by their result. It's not the coaches job to get people through the gate so maybe he should start to look at himself as they are failing miserably in that area.
Albo
Roar Rookie
They just sacked a coach in Brennan who had had a much better coaching record than the Walker brothers have achieved in recent lower division footy. Anyway, I don't think the problem is necessarily the coach. It is more the lack of quality cattle, and more so the lack of quality local cattle that would give the Titans it's own personal identity and footy culture. Right now the Titans team is comprised mainly of a bunch of rejects from other Clubs enjoying handy footy salaries and the holiday lifestyle on the Coast. Where is the local identity, the Titans culture and winning performance development ? Its the job that Meninga should have been sorting out, rather than just sacking another coach. The Titans need to develop a local Gold Coast team and will never be successful until it does. Just like the Knights did on the backs of their local heroes in the Johns brothers, the Gidley brothers & the Chief, or that Penrith did around locals Alexander, Geyer & Cartwright, or the Raiders did around Brad Clyde, Daley & Ricky Stuart or what Manly did around the Stewart brothers, Tooves & Watmough. These guys represented their Clubs' identities, cultures and its town's winning success. The Titans need to identify the local talent , nurture & develop it and launch it as the NRL's Titans team.
Superspud
Roar Rookie
I think there is a significant point being missed here in relation to NRL expansion. The latest expansion club is arguably the weakest in many areas. And that is in a strong rugby league area. I think we need to exercise caution before we kill off or uproot an existing team so we can have a Titans type scenario somewhere else. If we had a Nostradamus in 2006 who told us what the Titans would look like in 2019 would the NRL have gone ahead with the team?
BurningMad
Roar Rookie
And blue and gold are the Gold Coast's traditional colours.
Tripehound
Roar Rookie
The Titans are lining Justin Holbrook up as their next coach.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
It wouldn’t surprise me if it was true. I spend 2-3 days per week down on the GC. I see a lot of other clubs members stickers on cars but very few, if any, Titans ones. I see far more Suns stickers, but even they are struggling despite the AFL sinking millions and millions into the joint. Some say that a successful Titans franchise would bring in the fans. I agree, but it would mainly be opposition fans turning up in droves. When Manly fans always outnumber Titans fans 2 to 1 at CBus you know something is amiss. Warriors v Titans games are even more stark - it’s atleast 4 to 1 - but there are a lot of Kiwis on the GC!
Don
Roar Rookie
They coach a team which loses more often than they win. How do you give them a NRL gig based on that? And the toughest job in NRL coaching at that. No one cares how they play if they don't win more than their share in the second tier comp.