Titanic challenge accepted by new Gold Coast signing

Legendary coach reassures new Titan on NRL move

Gold Coast Titans new English recruit Dan Sarginson is looking forward to exploring the Tweed after arriving from England to link up with his new teammates. Picture: Scott Powick

WORDS of encouragement from a legendary coach reaffirmed for Titans' new English signing Dan Sarginson he'd made the right call to leave Super League and tackle the NRL.

Playing under Brisbane Broncos and England coach Wayne Bennett in the recent Four Nations competition, Sarginson was reassured he'd made the right decision after signing for the Titans back in March.

"Wayne Bennett recommended England players test themselves in the NRL,” Sarginson said.

"He said that after I signed, so I knew it was the right decision. I knew I needed to come over and do it.”

Sarginson arrived from England on Monday to join the Titans in pre-season training at Casuarina's Surfing Australia High Performance Centre and Tweed Coast Raiders yesterday, ahead of a break over Christmas.

The 6'1 centre played 125 matches for the London Broncos and Wigan in Super League, and made three appearances for England.

Seeing Australia in action during the Four Nations convinced Sarginson that playing in the NRL was the best decision for his career.

"In the Four Nations, Australia were literally relentless, putting other teams under pressure,” Sarginson said.

"You speak to players like Gareth Widdop and James Graham, they say you can't really explain how much (NRL) develops you as a player. We all want to become better rugby league players.”

Dan Sarginson offloads against Australia in the Four Nations in 2014. Picture: TRACEY NEARMY

Sarginson said the Titans were a great fit and while he and coach Neil Henry hadn't gone into detail about expectations, he believed left-centre would be the position he'd be gunning for.

"I saw how well they (Titans) were doing in the NRL last year and it was kind of a no-brainer for me to come here. When the opportunity came up, I stuck my hand up,” he said.

"Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we'll get down to it. I think he'll (Henry) probably just want to see me out there ripping in.”

Sarginson got his first look at the Tweed on Tuesday when he visited Surfing Australia's High Performance Centre.

The 23-year-old visited the Coast in 2014, but admitted he didn't know too much about the Tweed area.

"I'm really looking forward to the boys showing me around. It looks like an amazing place, so along with pre-season, it should be brilliant,” Sarginson said.