Neil Henry has his say on his coaching position at the Gold Coast Titans

NEIL Henry has given his version on a number of issues, specifically his relationship with Jarryd Hayne and reports he will be sacked as Titans coach.

Gold Coast Titans coach Neil Henry looks on during a media conference at Titans headquarters on the Gold Coast.

A DEFIANT Neil Henry has turned up the heat on the Titans board, declaring “I’m still coach of the team” as he outlined plans to dig his heels in and call the shots at the Gold Coast.

Henry disputed claims he will be sacked after Thursday night’s clash against the Eels and insists he can work with Jarryd Hayne — despite refusing to answer whether he wants the superstar at the club next season.

Henry may not survive that long, with speculation the Titans coach is a dead-man walking who will officially be terminated after the clash with Hayne’s former club Parramatta at ANZ Stadium.

But Henry is going down swinging, insisting he won’t walk away and intends on honouring his contract next season — effectively putting the onus on the Titans board to sort out the player-coach debacle.

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Gold Coast Titans coach Neil Henry looks on during a media conference at Titans headquarters on the Gold Coast.

Monday’s five-hour board meeting, which farcically yielded no result, underlines the uncertainty that became more clouded on Tuesday when Henry admitted he is in the dark about his future.

“I’m still the coach of the team,” he said.

Asked if he is a dead-man walking, the coach replied: “It (Henry being sacked) is speculation, we will find out I guess in due course if that’s true but I have a job to do to prepare this team for Thursday night.

“I haven’t heard anything yet from the board. They have had a discussion about the findings and they will have a board meeting and come up with a resolution.”

Asked if he wants to remain at the club, Henry said: “Of course I do. I am contracted here next year and want to stay a long time.

“This club has had a bit of turmoil in the last three years and I want to be part of a club that is moving in the right direction.”

Jarryd Hayne leaves Titans Headquarters on Wednesday.

Hayne claimed on Sunday that he hadn’t spoken to Henry for a week, but the Titans coach claimed there is no bad blood between the pair.

While Henry insists there is no “feud” and that he is prepared to work with Hayne next season, he refused to specifically answer whether he wanted his $1.2 million man at the club next season.

He also chose his words carefully when asked if Hayne is a team player.

“That’s a difficult one,” Henry said. “He is part of a team and he works hard, we know he can play some decent football but he hasn’t had the year that everyone expected.

“There is no feud between us. He would admit that as well.

“The feud situation is a good way to energise and polarise people but there is no feud between us.

“It’s not like we don’t talk to each other. That is rubbish. We converse and talk about game tactics and there is always a bit of banter before the game. We are both professional about that. We want the team to go well and I need him to play well and every player to play well.

“That was taken out of context (Hayne’s comments). We didn’t speak about him not being here in the future. We spoke prior to the game, that was a convenient way to suggest we were at 10 paces for the whole week. We weren’t.

“I said as many words to him as I normally say before the game. He knows his role and we have a set plan around him and I reinforced that to him.”

Asked if he wanted Hayne at the Titans in 2018, Henry replied: “I’m not going to answer that. He is a quality player and if he chooses to play here he will be part of the team.

“It’s up to him. He is contracted here as much as I’m contracted here. Time will tell around that. People are disappointed and he’s disappointed at not being able to string together quality performances.”

Henry said Hayne remains in doubt for the clash with his former Parramatta club due to an ankle problem.

“I’d say he is 50-50,” he said. “He has a lateral ligament sprain so we will see how it settles down. Hopefully he can take his place.”