NRL 2023: Can Des Hasler lift the Gold Coast Titans into finals contenders

The Titans’ days of being also-rans are over with incoming coach Des Hasler set to deliver the Gold Coast’s watershed maiden premiership.

Des Hasler (inset) is just what the Titans need to make a push into the finals.

Gold Coast will begin fresh talks to extend Tino Fa’asuamaleaui’s contract as Titans boss Steve Mitchell declared he will fight to keep the skipper and fellow Origin star David Fifita on the Glitter Strip.

In a wide-ranging interview, Mitchell opened up about the state of the embattled 14th-placed Titans ahead of Sunday’s home derby clash with the Cowboys at Cbus Super Stadium.

The CEO who sensationally sacked Justin Holbrook last month, Mitchell says the days of the Titans being also-rans are over and backed incoming coach Des Hasler to deliver the Coast’s watershed maiden premiership.

“We need Des’ hard edge,” Mitchell said.

Des Hasler will coach the Titans in 2024. Picture: Getty Images

THE CONTRACT SPAT

Having made the toughest call of his career with Holbrook, Mitchell now faces another challenge - keeping Gold Coast’s $2 million men Fa’asuamaleaui and Fifita at Parkwood.

The Queensland Origin duo had a clause in their existing $1 million deals that made them free agents if Holbrook was sacked.

Holbrook’s dismissal has triggered a market frenzy, with six NRL rivals expressing interest in Fa’asuamaleaui, while Canberra are ready to strike if Fifita opts to test his value.

Fa’asuamaleaui is contracted until 2026 and the Titans will up the ante with a further 12-month extension, with Mitchell determined to quickly scupper any poaching threats.

“I know where the club is heading and we are confident that we are putting in the right structures to be successful and that’s what those two guys want to be,” Mitchell said.

“I’m very hopeful that Tino and Dave are happy and settled.

“Moving forward, we have to do our work, but we’re all on the same page.

“It’s incumbent upon us to build an environment where all our athletes, including Tino and David, can be at their absolute best.

“If we can build that, then those guys will want to stay here.”

Tino Fa'asuamaleaui has the option to leave the Titans. Picture: Getty Images

TITANIC BATTLE

Enough is enough. Mitchell says it’s time for the Titans to be bona fide premiership contenders.

For more than a decade, the Gold Coast have largely been wallowing in mediocrity. They have made the finals just twice in their past 12 campaigns and on both occasions they crashed out of the playoffs in the first week after sneaking into eighth spot.

Not since 2010, when the Titans reached the grand-final qualifier under John Cartwright, have the Coast come so tantalisingly close to the holy grail.

Mitchell helped engineer a strategic ‘Building Titans’ roadmap for the club to win two premierships by 2030. Time is ticking.

“There’s no reason we can’t be a forerunner nationally from a sporting perspective in the NRL,” Mitchell said.

“There are some fabulously skilled and wonderfully talented players in our squad and they deserve to be successful.

“That’s where we are heading and we have an expectation to win a premiership.

“We have a fabulous catchment area with a population of more than 700,000 and growing quickly.

“Our nursery and the talent that sits with our junior clubs, senior clubs and school system is some of the best in the game and envied up and down the eastern seaboard.

“The opportunity for us is there, but we need someone to pull it all together and deliver the right IP (intellectual property), set standards, set some KPIs (key performance indicators), bring our players together and unlock the true talent that sits in this squad.”

DES-NEYLAND

Mitchell believes Des Hasler is the coach to lead the Titans to the promised land.

The 62-year-old stands alongside Wayne Bennett, Craig Bellamy and Trent Robinson as one of the greatest coaches of the modern era.

Hasler has reached five grand finals - three with Manly (2007-08, 2011), two with Canterbury (2012 and 2014) - and steered the Sea Eagles to premiership wins in 2008 and 2011.

“Des will bring a level of IP and detail that this organisation hasn’t seen before,” Mitchell said.

“There is nothing for a community or a region like winning a premiership and indeed a first premiership.

“No Gold Coast sporting team has won a premiership in any of the professional codes and if we can land that here and it’s within our grasp, then it will do wonders for this club and the region.

“We need the right tactical mindset to get to work, first to get deep into the finals and then to get ourselves in a position in the coming years to challenge for a premiership.

“Premierships aren’t easy to win, but Des has achieved it and knows what it takes.”

Gold Coast axed Justin Holbrook mid-season. Picture: Getty Images

THE BOMBSHELL

Holbrook’s shock termination in June was one of the most ruthless sackings in NRL coaching history.

The NRL usually leaks like a sieve but Titans bosses pulled off the Hasler heist under a total cover of darkness. Mitchell admits calling Holbrook into the Titans’ offices to table an immediate severance package was a gut-wrenching experience.

“Justin is a great person and the Holbrooks are a great family,” he said.

“Of course it was very hard to make the call we did.

“Over the three-and-a-half seasons he was with us, Justin got us to a point and he did a good job during that time.

“But it became apparent that we weren’t moving beyond where we were.

“Our promise as an organisation is to bring success to the Gold Coast and to land our first premiership. We have a responsibility to the community and deliver an environment that’s going to achieve that.

“We were left in a position whereby we needed to see change.”

Des Hasler with Manly players in the dressing rooms at the end of the 2008 NRL Grand Final.

THE MAD PROFESSOR

Hasler is regarded as one of the most eccentric figures in the code.

His detractors say Hasler is a control freak who pushes players to breaking point and wages political power struggles with club bosses.

His supporters say Hasler is a coaching genius who dedicates his heart and soul in pursuit of success. Manly skipper Daly Cherry-Evans and Titans veteran Kieran Foran, who won a title at Brookvale under Hasler in 2011, rave about his methods.

Mitchell is adamant Hasler will not be difficult to manage.

“We’ll provide the right resourcing around Des and he has been fabulous so far in his communication and level of respect for the existing coaching and football staff,” he said.

“His reputation for his workload is well known and so, too, are his expectations of his individual athletes. He is going to stretch us. You achieve more in life with someone who can stretch you. You may not always be in the most comfortable position, but you will achieve more if you are uncomfortable.

“If you have a listen over the decades to players who have connected with him, they say the amount of professionalism Des shows, the detail while they were under his coaching, they were better athletes for being under him.

“He will take ownership of our group and professionalise the club in its totality.

“We are still a young club and I think that someone with a full understanding of what it means to be a full-time professional and push through together to win a premiership, Des has the IP to do that.”

THE FUTURE

The Broncos have gone from wooden spooners to title contenders in three years. The Cowboys went from the bottom four to a grand-final qualifier in 12 months last season. This year, the Warriors have been a revelation under new coach Andrew Webster.

Mitchell believes the Titans can experience an equally rapid rejuvenation under Hasler.

“The club over the next three to five years is coming into a genuine premiership window period,” he said.

“You need someone who has been there, done that to guide you through that window.

“Des has been very respectful with our resourcing and he hasn’t asked for changes at all. His philosophy around defence and the IP he brings, that will certainly change, but he is comfortable with our resources.

“Across the squad, a number of players will thrive under him, his leadership and Des’ detail.

“They will eat up his coaching.”

Originally published as NRL 2023: Can Des Hasler lift the Gold Coast Titans into finals contenders