Mal Meninga says Gold Coast will no longer lose their best young talents

After years of watching their best young players being siphoned off by NRL rivals, Mal Meninga has declared the Gold Coast Titans rookie talent drain is over.

David Fifita should have been playing in blue and gold. Image: AAP Image/Darren England

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Mal Meninga has come out swinging, with the Titans culture chief issuing a hands-off edict to the Broncos and warning the days of NRL clubs poaching the Gold Coast’s best young products are over.

As the Titans begin a new era on Sunday against Melbourne following the sacking of coach Garth Brennan, Meninga assured Gold Coast fans he will not allow the region’s rich nursery of talent to be regularly raided by NRL rivals.

In the past three years alone, the Titans have been plundered by “Big Brother” the Broncos, who have recruited four Gold Coast-reared young guns — Payne Haas, Tom Dearden, David Fifita and Xavier Coates.

A fifth player, talented Gold Coast outside back Jesse Arthars, last week inked a two-year deal with the Broncos for 2020 in another kick in the guts for a Titans club desperately trying to climb out of the NRL cellar.

David Fifita should have been playing in blue and gold. Image: AAP Image/Darren England

Now, as the Gold Coast chart a comprehensive rebuild of the club starting with the impending appointment of Brennan’s successor, Meninga has had enough of the Titans talent drain.

The Titans have scrapped a previous club policy of not signing teenagers under the age of 16. Under new recruitment chief Ezra Howe, the Titans have ramped-up their grassroots retention, securing 60 of the region’s most talented players between the ages of 15 to 18 to Gold Coast scholarships.

Meninga is determined to one day help deliver the Titans’ maiden premiership and says future success will be driven by homegrown talent.

Tom Dearden was another Gold Coast talent snared by Brisbane. Image: AAP Image/Dave Hunt

“Before coming to the Titans, I could never understand why so many of the best young players that our region consistently produces ended up playing at other clubs,” Meninga said.

“Why weren’t the best Gold Coast kids playing for the Titans?

“The truth of the matter is, unfortunately, the Titans often times never gave them a reason to stay.

“The Titans had a policy of not signing kids under 16 years of age. It was probably admirable in theory, but in reality it only gave the other clubs in the NRL first crack at the best talent being produced in our backyard.

“The first thing we needed to do to make sure these talented kids were kept on the Gold Coast was to improve the quality of our recruitment team, and implement the programs and systems we needed to give these kids the pathway they craved to go all the way to the NRL.

“Previously, Gold Coast kids had to go to other clubs to get these pathways. But not anymore.”

Meninga knows how much the club has lost. Image: AAP Image/Dave Hunt

Meninga and Howe have presided over the creation of the Titans Elite Development System. The Titans are also identifying and securing talent from the age of 14 in a bid to prevent the type of defections seen by Haas and Fifita, who starred at leading Gold Coast school Keebra Park.

“We now have a group of 16 and 18-year-olds the equal — if not better — than any other club in the competition,” Meninga said.

“Rather than ignoring these kids until they had turned 16, by which time they had usually signed with other clubs, we are picking up the best local talent available at 14, which you can do under NRL rules for kids in your own catchment areas.

“We are bringing them into our system at an earlier stage of their development.

Xavier Coates is now a rising star for Brisbane. Image: AAP Image/Darren England

“The Titans will no longer miss out on the best kids being produced in the Gold Coast nursery.

“We may not keep all of them, but the only way we will now lose a kid we want to keep is because of money.

“The programs and pathways they need are now here at the Titans. These juniors and their families know this. They will be the future of our club.

“And take it from me, the talent of some of the kids that will wear our jersey in the next five years is amazing.”

Jesse Arthars will leave the club for their main rivals. Image: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Former NRL star Scott Sattler was the Titans’ inaugural football manager and recruitment chief for their foundation season in 2007.

Sattler, who helped nurture the Titans’ first wave of products including David Mead, Kevin Gordon and Jordan Rapana, said the Gold Coast needed stability to stave off the Broncos.

“When there is uncertainty in a club, everything stops progressing,” Sattler said.

“Unfortunately for the Titans, there has been uncertainty around the club for a number of years and that has opened the door for other clubs to poach their best kids.

“The vultures are coming in from the outside and picking the region apart.

“The Broncos will be playing for a premiership in two years with a nucleus of kids who were Gold Coast talents.

How the Titans could do with Payne Haas. Image: AAP Image/Darren England

“When guys like Payne Haas, David Fifita and Tom Dearden play 50 first-grade games, the Broncos will be challenging for a title and those kids should have been wearing Titans colours.

“The Broncos have always had that aura of professionalism and that means something to a prospective player or recruit.

“Sometimes results play a big part in that. As a recruitment manager, you have to be a salesman as well, you have to sell an image and at the moment the image of the Titans is one of uncertainty and players get nervous about uncertainty.

“Money is a factor, no doubt, but the Titans have to cultivate a perception and reality that there is stability in the club and there is a bright future.

“I really hope they can turn it around … there is so much untapped potential in the Gold Coast market.”