NRL 2021: Gold Coast Titans hoping to cash in on Bulldogs’ bungle with Toby Sexton

An administrative bungle by the Bulldogs opened the door for highly-touted rookie Toby Sexton to return to the Gold Coast and now he wants to help the Titans become a premiership force.

Titans rookie Toby Sexton. Picture: Jerad Williams

Toby Sexton has revealed his desire to help the Gold Coast become a premiership force as the richest rookie in Titans history prepares to make his NRL debut.

Sexton will become Titan No.168 when he starts at halfback in Sunday’s crucial clash against St George Illawarra at Cbus Super Stadium.

It will be a special moment for the Palm Beach Currumbin junior, who has spent his entire life on the Gold Coast and long dreamt of wearing a Titans jersey.

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Sexton, 20, was nearly lost to the Gold Coast when he was overlooked by Titans scouts in school, instead signing a four-year contract with the Canterbury Bulldogs before nearly joining Cronulla.

If not for an administrative error and a desperate late bid by the Titans, Sexton may have been lost to Sydney forever.

Toby Sexton will make his NRL ebut for the Titans on Sunday. Picture: Jerad Williams

Instead, he has been earmarked as the playmaker to lead the Titans into a new generation they hope will be filled with NRL premiership success following 15 years of up-and-down results.

With the guidance of manager Tas Bartlett of PSM, Sexton last month signed a lucrative contract extension with the Titans, keeping him at the club until 2024 on a deal worth close to $500,000-a-season at the end.

It is the most cash the Titans have ever splashed on a player yet to feature in the NRL, showing how highly coach Justin Holbrook rates Sexton.

“It’s a dream come true,” Sexton said of his debut. “I have grown up my whole life on the Gold Coast and come through all the junior ranks with school and local footy.

“To be given the opportunity to play for my local club in the Gold Coast Titans ... I am so grateful for and so proud to represent this club.

“It was a very easy decision for me (to re-sign) and a very personal one too.

“I want to be a part of this club’s success moving forward and to be able to do it as a local kid who has grown up on the Gold Coast my whole life would make it so much more special and memorable.

“To be where I am now in making my debut is way past my wildest dreams. I just want to help bring rugby league back to the Gold Coast as a dominant force in the competition and constantly make my community, my family and friends proud of me.”

Sexton was part of an elite group of Queensland schoolboys stars that graduated in 2019 comprising the likes of Warriors whiz Reece Walsh, Roosters dynamo Sam Walker and Maroons jet Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow.

He was overlooked by Titans scouts in his early high school years and instead inked a four-year development deal with the Bulldogs.

Sexton could have still been in Bulldogs colours if not for a sliding doors moment that delivered him to the Titans.

“He had an option in the contract for the fourth year but due to a change of staff at the Bulldogs they missed the deadline,” Bartlett said.

“Everyone watching the game that year realised he was going to be in the Queensland halves along with Sam Walker and a massive chance to make the Australian side.

“The Bulldogs wanted to take up the option but they missed the deadline. The Sharks flew him down to Cronulla and it looked like he would go there.

“I rang Mal Meninga (Titans culture chief) and Ezra Howe (Titans recruitment manager) and asked them if they wanted to sign the Australian Schoolboys halfback from Palm Beach Currumbin who is a great person and ticked all the boxes. It was a rare opportunity for the Titans.

“It looked like it wouldn’t happen because they had already signed their three rookie spots and were on a tight budget.

Toby Sexton (left) played Australian Schoolboys alongside Reece Walsh, Brendan Piakura and Josh Bevan. Picture: SMPIMAGES.COM

“To Ezra’s credit, he was a massive fan of Toby’s and the instigator to get another rookie spot on their books and a deal done.

“Toby has always wanted to play for the Titans. To sign a very lucrative deal to stay in your own backyard is very rare these days, usually you have to pack your bags and leave like Reece Walsh (Broncos to Warriors).

“He never wanted to leave so to be rewarded is testament to what he’s doing under Justin and the club is prepared to back him long-term. Toby sees a clear pathway and the deal reflects he is their future.”

Sexton may have made his NRL debut earlier if not for the turbulence of the past two years.

He was slated to spend last year developing in the Intrust Super Cup, but the competition was abandoned after one round due to Covid complications.

Sexton was dominating the ISC for Tweed Heads this year before joining the Titans Covid bubble and a finger injury to Gold Coast halfback Jamal Fogarty has given him an opportunity in the NRL.

“To give a guy his NRL debut is exciting, but to have a local guy that’s grown up in the community is twice as exciting,” Holbrook said.

“He has earned it. He has been itching for an opportunity this year and gets it now. He will do really well for us, he’s a great young player.

Titans coach Justin Holbrook has been impressed by Toby Sexton’s development. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“He is a really old-fashioned halfback, a good organiser who understands the game and is really intelligent. He’s got a great kicking game and is a strong defender.

“He’s not an electrifying halfback that’s going to make 10 line breaks but he brings so much organisation to a team. He’s very mature for a 20-year-old. He’s got a 30-year-old brain in his head which is a terrific trait for a young half.

“He’s a really popular young player and confident, exactly what we need when we’re not playing as well as we would like to.”

With the Titans two wins out of the top eight and running out of time to make the finals, an injection of energy and youth in Sexton could get them going.

Whatever happens, Sexton is just happy to realise a childhood dream.

“It’s still so surreal, you dream of this moment ever since you first started playing footy and to be here now, there’s not many words to describe it,” he said.

“My week’s been really good, I’m definitely trying to soak it all up and take in every moment but I know my main focus is playing good footy on Sunday and that’s where my head is at.”

Rookie ready to prove his worth

Titans fans will get a glimpse of what the future holds when the player awarded the richest rookie contract in Gold Coast history makes his NRL debut this weekend.

Young gun Toby Sexton will pull on a Titans jersey for the first time in Sunday’s clash against St George Illawarra at Cbus Super Stadium.

Sexton, 20, is a product of Gold Coast league nursery Palm Beach Currumbin and played in the 2019 Australian Schoolboys team alongside NRL sensations Reece Walsh (Warriors), Sam Walker (Roosters) and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (Cowboys).

The Titans rate Sexton so highly they recently extended his contract until the end of 2024, with the final two years of the deal worth close to a combined $1 million. The contract extension and upgrade was a huge show of faith for a player yet to feature in the NRL.

The Titans have high hopes for Toby Sexton. Picture: Scott Davis/NRL Photos

Sexton’s development stalled last year when the Intrust Super Cup was abandoned after one round due to Covid, but he has dominated the competition for Tweed Heads in 2021 to prove he is ready for the NRL.

The Titans must win at least four of their last seven matches to have any chance of making the finals but prop Jarrod Wallace said Sexton wouldn’t feel the pressure.

“He is a fantastic young kid,” he said.

“I definitely think he’s ready. He has so much time on his hands at training. He always puts his body on the line at training and has a great kicking game.

“He seems to have control in his hands when he’s running against us. Why not chuck him in the deep end and give him a crack?

“He won’t worry about (the pressure). He’s got such a level head on his shoulders. He will really enjoy it. He will be cool and calm in attack. That will really suit us. He will control the game really well and keep it nice and simple.

Toby Sexton (left) and Reece Walsh were schoolboy stars. Picture: Jerad Williams

“He’s definitely got the confidence to boss the other guys around. He knows his position and role in the team and what he needs to do.

“The boys really trust him. Even the older and more experienced players won’t have trouble being told what to do by young ‘Sexy’. We know he will lead us in the right way.”

With Taylor set to exit the Gold Coast at season’s end and Fogarty a mediocre NRL playmaker, the Titans have high hopes for Sexton to lead them into the next generation.

Sexton recently said he was finding it hard to watch the likes of Walsh and Walker shine in the NRL but he was happy to bide his time.

“I am not trying to look too far ahead,” he said. “I see all my mates playing first grade like Reece Walsh and Sam Walker and they are killing it.

“But I have got to look at it long term. Short term I think it has affected some young blokes who have come up but Q-Cup has been a really good competition for me to grow as an individual and play against men on a week-to-week basis. It’s definitely been a challenge.

Toby Sexton will make his NRL debut against the Dragons this weekend. Picture: Jerad Williams

“If the opportunity came about I would put my hand up and be confident to play but I have to take it one step at a time. I’m only 20.”

Despite boasting a 6-11 record, the Titans are still only one win out of the top eight and have a chance to play finals for the first time since 2016.

A 10-14 record could remarkably be good enough to finish in the top eight this season and Wallace said the Titans had to kick into gear.

“It’s a very important game – they (Dragons) are four points in front of us so if they win they go six points ahead and make it harder and harder for us,” he said.

“We need to be ready to go and make sure we get the win. If we want to play finals it definitely starts this week. We need to make sure we’re raring to go and mentally prepared for a Dragons side that’s going pretty good.”