Gold Coast Titans winger Anthony Don on brink of entering history books as club try-scoring record-holder
ANTHONY Don didn’t make his NRL debut until the age of 25, but the flying Gold Coast Titans winger has more than made up for lost time as he approaches a unique club milestone.
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ANTHONY Don reckons scoring one try in the NRL was a minor miracle in itself.
So to be on the cusp of becoming the greatest try-scorer in Gold Coast Titans history is something the flying winger is finding difficult to comprehend.
Don didn’t make his NRL debut until the age of 25, having already completed university and working as a high school physical education teacher.
He scored 40 tries for the Grafton Ghosts in 2010 which led to the Burleigh Bears signing him before the Titans issued him a crack at the NRL.
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After 108 games in NRL, Don is now level with David Mead (147 games) on 67 tries heading into Saturday’s clash against Melbourne at Cbus Super Stadium.
One more try will see Don become the greatest try-scorer since the Titans entered the NRL in 2007, but the Gold Coast cult hero is still trying to avoid the spotlight.
“It’s something I don’t really think about too much,” Don said.
“It’s something I’ll look back on when I finish my career and be very proud of, but at the moment it’s not in the front of my mind.
“It’s hard to talk about it. Meady is such a great player and was a good mentor to me.
“He texted me when I equalled him and said ‘congrats on the record, you’re in elite company’.
“I didn’t think I’d play one game. A great achievement was playing 100.
“The try-scoring one is a little bit different because a lot of tries are from everyone else’s good work and I’m just the one on the end of the line that gets to put the ball down.
“It’s not a reflection of how good a player I am.”
Don, 30, is a fan favourite at the Titans and one of the most popular players among his teammates.
He took the long road to the NRL, but reckons not even the best recruitment guru would have spotted him as a junior.
“I just wasn’t good enough when I was young,” Don said.
“There could have been the world’s best systems in place but I just wasn’t good enough.
“It’s pretty simple, you’ve got to be one of the best kids to get an NRL contract.”
Don is one of the more modest players going around and there is unlikely to be any grand celebrations if he racks up his 16th try of the season on Saturday night.
“I saw him score his first try and he tried to celebrate and it didn’t end up too well so he doesn’t really celebrate any more,” Titans captain Ryan James said.
“He scores the try and is a humble guy. He is a great player and even better bloke.”
Don added: “I’m not too big on the post-try celebrations. I’ve had a few and been teased about them.”
Originally published as Gold Coast Titans winger Anthony Don on brink of entering history books as club try-scoring record-holder