TV cameras captured Des Hasler screaming at his Gold Coast players in the dressing room at half-time last weekend.
Hasler has been always known for a good outburst in the sheds. He famously pulled a door of its hinges one day at the old Parramatta Stadium.
Titans players maintain the best eruption since Hasler arrived on the Gold Coast came after the round-four loss to the Dolphins, when the coach became so animated a pen fell from his ear and he tried to kick it, only to miss. The group struggled to keep straight faces.
Some things will never change when it comes to the 63-year-old Hasler. He will always show raw emotion, and he will always be the NRL coach with the best hair.
And Hasler will always be the hard taskmaster. Slowly but surely, he has started to turn things around at the Titans.
For too long, the Gold Coast has been Queensland’s under-performing equivalent of the Wests Tigers. But after an 0-6 start, the Titans have now won four of their past five games.
Things are finally starting to turn on the Gold Coast under Des Hasler.Credit: Marija Ercegovac
They can keep their faint finals hopes alive with victory over “big brother” Brisbane at a sold-out Cbus Stadium on Saturday afternoon. It is the first time 45 Titans’ old boys will attend the game.
Hasler has the good folk just north of the Tweed starting to believe. If it is not this year, look out 2025. Hasler has instilled a tough defensive mindset in the team and he demands excellence.
Captain Kieran Foran, who had two stints under Hasler at Manly prior to his arrival on the Gold Coast, said the biggest change in the coach was his ability to communicate with the younger players at the Titans.
The way Hasler dealt with Manly old-school legends likeAnthony Watmough, Glenn and Brett Stewart, Jamie Lyon and Foran was never going to work with the fresh-faced crop he now commands.
The 63-year-old has started to mellow.Credit: Getty
“The playing group is different to what it was 15 years ago,” Foran told this masthead. “The generation is different, the game is different. Des has evolved and changed the way he communicates to the group.
“He’s just more aware. The boys have seen him blow up, but I know Des and personally, I’ve seen him evolve in the way he talks to players and the group.
“He’s adapted with the new generation. You need to learn how to get responses in a different way. Des has always been able to give a player a cuddle, he just deals with them differently now.
“The boys were on edge before he arrived. They had heard the stories. But Des is different behind the scenes. He’s funny. He loves a story and a joke.”
However, the former Manly and Bulldogs mentor bristled when told by this masthead about the belief he may be mellowing.
“I wasn’t mellow at half-time on the weekend, I’ll give you the tip. I let rip,” he laughed. “I will say I’ve really enjoyed working with young players on their journey. They’re chasing their dream. It’s great to be a part of it. It keeps me going.”
Even when things were tough at the start of the year, Hasler remained calm with the playing group, and kept the mood light with most of the administrative staff.
He would annoy staff by pressing a buzzer at the front office, only to disappear. After a week of going to the front door and seeing nobody there, fed-up Titans staffers studied the CCTV footage and discovered Hasler was was the culprit. They clipped up the footage, set it to the Pink Panther theme tune, and sent it around the office.
On another occasion, when senior Titans executives were discussing how they would fund a new centre of excellence at a cost of over around $40m, Hasler had an idea on how to save some money.
Kieran Foran is playing some of his best football under good friend Des Hasler.Credit: Getty Images
“How about I give back my fuel card,” he told a room full of confused suits.
Titans chief executive Steve Mitchell knew that in David Fifita, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, Keano Kini, Alofiana Khan-Pereira, Jojo Fifita and Jayden Campbell, the Titans had a young group on the brink of a premiership window.
Mitchell also said the club knew Hasler was the man to “bring that potential to life”.
“We’re talking about a man who has been in the game 45 years as a player and a coach, and been to five grand finals as a coach, which is quite extraordinary,” Mitchell said.
“His reputation around what he expects from his teams, his work ethic, his innovative approach, and ability to be relentless, these are elements we’ve arguably not had in our high-performance program for a long time. Des has brought that.
“We have a talented young squad that had a lot of promise, but were only playing on potential. We needed someone who could bring that to life.
“Des is changing our style of play. The way we’re playing and our toughness, especially in defence, it’s mirroring what Des’s expectations are.
“Des doesn’t stop or sleep. He’s always looking for that last piece of the puzzle. He’s always telling me that. He’s almost obsessive about helping the players improve.”
Like all clubs fighting for a spot in that bottom half of the eight, they will start to look at squandered chances.
For the Titans, the loss to Canberra in round six will haunt them. They lost in golden point. The NRL later confirmed the Titans should have been given the chance to kick a penalty goal from in front of the posts.
Hasler was also convinced his side were robbed by a Brian Kelly no-try ruling in Magic Round, and in comical post-match scenes, dragged Kelly out of the sheds and ordered him to tell journalists he had not dropped the ball.
Injuries have not been kind to the Titans. Hasler will never use that as an excuse.
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