NRL 2020: Gold Coast Titans read riot act as Mal Meninga threatens to take blade to players’ list
The gauntlet has been found on a Gold Coast beach after being launched by a frustrated Mal Meninga, with Titans players urged to show something or otherwise you’re on your bike.
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The Gold Coast Titans have been put on notice, with rugby league Immortal Mal Meninga declaring new contracts won’t be offered to underperforming players as the club weighs up a $3 million roster purge.
The Titans are anchored to the bottom of the NRL ladder after three rounds following Friday’s 36-6 defeat to North Queensland in Townsville.
The club has suffered three emphatic defeats to start 2020, going down to the Raiders (18 points), Eels (40 points) and Cowboys (30 points) under new coach Justin Holbrook.
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With 10 players off-contract at season’s end, the Titans have a golden opportunity to overhaul the squad that collected last year’s wooden spoon.
Captains Ryan James and Kevin Proctor, former NSW Origin hooker Nathan Peats and all-time leading tryscorer Anthony Don are among the players fighting for new deals.
However reputations will count for little when it comes to the negotiating table.
Meninga, the Titans’ head of performance and culture, said the players had to prove they were worthy of contract offers.
“All the players are fully aware they’ve got to play well to get another contract,” he told The Sunday Mail.
“That’s the way it is at the moment. It puts the club in a good position.
“We want to see players playing well and with strong belief in each other. We want them to be competitive.
“If they do that they deserve a contract. If they don’t, that’s the way it is.”
The Titans will lose Queensland Origin star Jai Arrow to South Sydney next season and the club’s only confirmed 2021 recruit at this stage is rising Storm sensation Tino Fa’asuamaleaui.
Meninga has highlighted Broncos young gun David Fifita as his prime recruitment target and the Titans are also on the hunt for an experienced leader.
Complicating the recruitment and retention decisions are the fact the Intrust Super Cup season has been abandoned for 2020 due to COVID-19.
Club captain James, the Titans’ longest-serving player ever, will miss the entire 2020 season following knee surgery and Meninga said the players’ input around the club would not be ignored.
“It’s not really fair at the moment because only 17 players can play,” he said.
“It won’t be a fair and equitable opportunity to prove yourself to get a new contract.
“It’s what you do around the club, team and how you handle yourself over this period of time that’s going to hold people in good stead and help us make good decisions.
“It’s not just about playing. It’s what they do around the club and their behaviour around the team that’s really important.”
With the Titans on a 14-game losing streak and nearing 12 months without a win in the NRL, albeit with an extra two-month break, former St Helens coach mentor Holbrook said his focus was on the field.
“I haven’t looked that far in advance,” he said when asked about his off-contract players.
“I’m sure it’s on the players’ minds.
“But for me it’s about picking the best side, that’s my main focus. All of that stuff is up to the individuals and managers to worry about.”
Titans hope switch the key to unlocking Taylor
Titans coach Justin Holbrook is confident he can crack the Ash Taylor code by switching the Gold Coast playmaker to five-eighth.
Taylor will make his first NRL appearance in the No. 6 jersey when the Titans take on North Queensland at QCB Stadium tonight.
Taylor has played all of his 82 NRL games at halfback, a position he dominated as a junior on his way to debuting for the Brisbane Broncos in 2015.
After a lacklustre start to the season, Holbrook has made a huge call to shift Taylor into the No. 6 and hand Intrust Super Cup gun Jamal Fogarty the Gold Coast's halfback duties.
The move could be defining for both Taylor and the Titans.
Taylor is a key player for the Gold Coast club.
At 25 and on a $1 million-a-season contract until the end of 2021, the Titans need their highest-paid player to fire if they are to be an NRL premiership threat.
Holbrook said the positional switch would alleviate the pressure on the talented Taylor and allow him to play with the spark that made him an NRL sensation in his early years.
“It’s about finding our right balance and connection as a team,” he said.
“That’s what we feel is best and I’m looking forward to seeing them in action.
“I’m not sure it’s the last roll of the dice, I think it suits him.
“We’ve put him in that organising role and it hasn’t worked for us.
“When I had that six weeks off I had to think long and hard about our side and how we’re going to get the best out of every player.
“Ash is no different to that. He plays a big role. We had to look to get the best out of him.
“Jamal is a much more natural organising type of player, which makes it easier to let Ash worry about playing that standard five-eighth role where he might just touch it once in a set-of-six but make it count. It’s the best for our team and Ash.”
Holbrook informed Taylor of the switch before the Titans resumed training following the six-week shutdown and said his star playmaker took the news well.
“He was fine, it doesn’t change his role in the team," Holbrook said.
“He’s not changing the way he plays, he just doesn’t have to worry about telling everyone else what to do.
“It’s not going to change what he does on the field, it just gives him less to organise.”
The Titans were dealt a late double blow yesterday, with winger Anthony Don (knee) and fullback Tyrone Roberts (ankle) ruled out of the Cowboys game.
Phillip Sami will shift to fullback while Jonus Pearson and Brian Kelly will be called on to the wings.
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Holbrook has made mass changes to the team after a disappointing 0-2 start to the season and said the onus was on the new 17 to fire.
“I don’t want to make it that big of an issue, we picked the best side we could for rounds one and two,” he said.
“Some of the changes we’ve made are because we’ve got more players available.
“It’s not doom and gloom for the boys that have been left out. It’s a chance for us to pick our best side.
“If these 17 guys are successful they’ll stay there. If not, that’s our job, we’ve got to pick the best side to win. They’ve got to play well.”
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