Michael Morgan, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Boyd Cordner on Gold Coast Titans’ hit list
WITH a truckload of cash at their disposal thanks to Jarryd Hayne’s departure, Gold Coast Titans are looking add some of the biggest names in the game.
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MICHAEL Morgan, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Boyd Cordner head a hit list of players Gold Coast will target to replace Jarryd Hayne.
The Titans have already compiled a preliminary list of potential players, but may save their cap space for next season and instead focus on securing a big-name off-contract star at the end of 2018.
The Titans have more than $1m to spend and The Daily Telegraph has heard three names Gold Coast may consider – the Sydney Roosters’ Cordner, New Zealand’s Tuivasa-Sheck and North Queensland’s Morgan.
It is known that Titans coach Garth Brennan is a friend of Cordner, who is preparing for Saturday night’s World Cup final against England in Brisbane.
Brennan said he wouldn’t be bustled into a replacement for Hayne, who was released a year early from his Titans contract, but stressed Gold Coast was a club players now wanted to represent.
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“The vision for Gold Coast Titans is bright,” Brennan said.
“We are a club very much on the up. We’re not going to be a dumping ground for players other clubs don’t want.
“There is a fair bit of money spend.”
Hayne met with Titans CEO Graham Annesley before the club issued a statement confirming his release in the afternoon.
He will soon be announced as a Parramatta player.
Gold Coast fans didn’t warm to Hayne but no doubt losing a marquee player in November will hurt the Titans.
Asked was he cranky at Hayne’s request to leave, Annesley said: “I don’t get miffed about too much. It’s all part of the cut and thrust of rugby league.”
Brennan said he may even look locally to replace Hayne.
“We’re not going to rush out and panic and sign someone for the sake of it. Our recruitment strategy will be very selective,” Brennan said.
“I think the roster is in a really good shape. Jarryd is an exceptional talent but I am excited about what we have. I want to sit down and see what the lay of the land is locally and in the current squad.
“It’s obviously a loss for us, a player of Jarryd’s calibre. It obviously hurts, no doubt about that. But it’s up to me and the coaching staff to work with what we have.
“Any decision I make won’t be about 2018, but 2018 and beyond. There are some young blokes at the club I am really excited about, they are more than capable of doing a job for me at fullback.
“They are young, enthusiastic and willing to learn. Rosters in the NRL are chopping and changing. We are in a good position where we can sit back and be selective.”
Annesley said there were “other factors’ in the decision to sack Neil Henry, despite a theory the Titans punted Henry because of Hayne.
“That’s in the past,” Annesley said. “I won’t re-hash that now. It’s about the future.”
On Wednesday, Gold Coast recruit Brenton Lawrence retired.