Taking on the worst job in rugby league would be a titanic mistake for Kevin Walters

Gold Coast are a one-way road leading nowhere and Kevin Walters should give the Titans the biggest sidestep since Reg Gasnier hung up the boots, writes MIKE COLMAN

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Don’t do it Kevvie. No matter what they offer you. A million bucks a year, two penthouses overlooking Main Beach and a lifetime family pass to Sea World … nothing is worth it to coach the Titans.

It wouldn’t be the start of your NRL coaching career, it would be the finish — just like it has been for everyone who has gone before.

The place isn’t a footie club. For players it is a poker machine that always pays, no matter what you put into it, and for coaches it is a one-way dirt road that leads nowhere.

Kevin Walters already has a good gig with the Maroons — he doesn’t need the Titans. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

In its short history the Titans have had three head coaches. John Cartwright who took them to the finals twice but departed when the club’s core group of good players either retired or left and weren’t replaced, and Neil Henry who was handed a dirt sandwich called Jarryd Hayne and was shown the door when he refused to chew on it.

Then of course there was the recently departed Garth Brennan who was on a hiding to nothing from the day he unpacked his bags.

What has happened to them since? Cartwright has never managed to get another head coaching job and is currently assistant to Des Hasler at the Sea Eagles; Henry has vanished without trace, and while it is early days for Brennan don’t expect any clubs to come calling any time soon.

Garth Brennan did his best at the Titans but was left scratching his head as his underperforming players failed to fire. Picture: Dave Hunt/AAP.

And that’s just those who have had the dubious honour of coaching the Gold Coast in its most recent guise. Those who were in charge of previous incantations the Seagulls, Gladiators and Chargers fared equally poorly with not one — including King Wally Lewis and 1996 ARL Coach of the Year Phil Economidis — establishing a coaching career at any other club.

Which is why Kevin Walters is 100 per cent right in saying he is not interested in interviewing for the job regardless of any interest the club might have in signing him.

Kevvie has never made any secret of the fact that he would like to coach at NRL level but the Titans aren’t the entry point for someone like him.

After all, it’s not as if he doesn’t have a reasonable gig at the moment. As Queensland Origin coach he gets an open cheque book to put together one of the two best teams in the country.

He deals with talented players who are totally committed to the cause, has the support of the entire State and gets to hang out with his old mates.

Best of all, it only lasts three games a year, not the endless drain and pressure of a 25 game season (plus finals which, in the Titans case is immaterial).

On top of that he earns good money flying around the country watching and talking about footy for Fox League.

And he’s being asked to toss that all in for the most poisoned chalice in rugby league?

This is a club that has a director of culture and performance, but no culture or performance. One that asks its overpaid, under-committed players what they think of the coach — and believes them when they blame him for their own shortcomings.

He should give it the biggest sidestep since Reg Gasnier hung up the boots — and the Walker brothers should do the same.

Anthony Griffin worked with — and was shafted by — Phil Gould at Penrith, which makes him the perfect candidate for the Titans. Picture: Gregg Porteous

The only person who should even consider taking on the Titans is someone who has been there and done that before — an experienced coach with the scar tissue to show for it.

Someone like Anthony Griffin or Geoff Toovey. Or maybe Neil Henry or Phil Economidis.

Anyone but Kevvie.