How Titans’ victory over Storm became the turning point when Neil Henry lost his players

IT was meant to be the Titans’ finest hour to kickstart a finals charge. Instead, it became the seven-day period that exposed cracks at the Gold Coast.

Titans coach Neil Henry looks set for the exit. Picture. Phil Hillyard

IT was meant to be the Titans’ finest hour that would kickstart a charge to the finals.

Instead, it became the seven-day period that exposed cracks at the Gold Coast, triggering the player tension and political strain that has left their besieged coach Neil Henry a dead-man walking.

Gold Coast’s incredible, last-gasp 38-36 defeat of Melbourne on May 13 — and the events that followed — marked a stupefying and bitter turning point in the Titans’ season.

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This was supposed to be the moment for the Titans. Photo: Adam Head

No other team this season has managed to score 30 points against the ladder-leading Melbourne machine. It was a win that should have been the making of the Titans as a credible playoffs force.

The Storm victory should have bonded Titans players like superglue. Inexplicably, it was the moment when Henry lost the playing group.

In the space of 93 days, the Titans have gone from architects of the upset of the season to an underachieving, rudderless rabble, ultimately sparking last Monday’s emergency board meeting to douse the flames between Henry and star recruit Jarryd Hayne.

The embers of discontent can be traced to the way Henry and his coaching squadron handled not only Hayne, but the entire Titans squad following their Melbourne boilover.

It was a win that left Titans players physically and mentally spent. Another gruelling clash against Manly, who were seventh at the time, was seven days away.

The players were pushed hard during training. Picture Mike Batterham

Some rest was needed. Instead, the build-up to the Sea Eagles clash did not relent. Titans insiders say club conditioners oversaw a punishing preparation so intense some players rated it tougher than anything they did in pre-season.

At the captain’s run before the Manly clash, several Titans players were as flat as week-old lemonade. Collectively, they were tired and broken.

A slew of senior players, including Hayne, were furious at how the training load was managed. They felt pushed to breaking point and voiced their grievances to the coaching staff.

Twenty four hours later, the Titans tabled one of their worst performances of the season. After 45 minutes, they trailed 24-6. By full-time, the Titans had been routed 30-10.

Titans coaching staff declined to comment but since that pivotal week, the Titans have, physically and statistically, never recovered.

The Manly mauling sparked a four-game losing streak. In their past 12 games, they have lost nine to slump to 14th. And while a shocking injury toll has been a factor in their slide, a confluence of forces have proved more destructive for Henry.

Hayne spoke up about the punishing regimen. (AAP Image/Craig Golding)

The way Henry and his staff handled the build-up to the Manly clash spoke volumes for the playing group. There has been gradual, almost imperceptible disconnect ever since.

They lost trust in the system.

While Henry insists allegations of player rumblings and strained relations with Hayne are a dastardly media “beat-up”, the dissatisfaction is genuine.

Three weeks ago, one member of the Titans’ 25-man full-time squad contacted a trusted family friend to seek some advice. He revealed several players were privately knifing Henry. The player said he felt uncomfortable that when the coach left the room after completing a video session, several colleagues would make derogatory comments mocking Henry.

He was advised to stay out of the inner-sanctum politics and focus on playing football.

But Titans chief executive Graham Annesley had his finger on the pulse. It is why, 13 days ago, he summoned 12 players to his office to discuss the playing group’s rapport with Henry.

Some comments during the one-on-one interviews rang alarm bells. To a man, they said they liked Henry as a person. As a coach, several claimed he was a poor communicator. One player felt he was not learning anything new under Henry and his coaching team.

Others questioned his game plans and team selections, such as dropping John Olive on the eve of the Tigers clash three weeks ago and moving fullback Hayne to right centre, a position he has never played.

Henry, who launched his coaching career with the Western Reds under-19s team during Super League 20 years ago, has been around long enough to know not everyone in a football club is happy. The trick is keeping the influential nucleus content.

“Players are tough to coach at different times,” he said on Tuesday, 24 hours after he and Hayne were probed by the Titans board.

“You have to manage personalities but that is the role of the coach, to get that right. That’s what coaches have to do, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

“You can’t expect your whole squad will buy into what you do. Every week, you only pick 17 out of a squad of 32 or 33 and some players will be unhappy.

“That’s the nature of the beast in any sport. I have been coaching a long time. I know that.”

Henry relationship with the players has been strained. (Jason O'Brien/Getty Images)

But Henry’s relationship with his players has been only one facet of his performance at the Titans. Of equal concern has been the club’s woeful list management, which has seen the Titans use a record 72 players since the start of 2014, and Henry’s role in recruitment and negotiation.

Leading player managers who deal routinely with the NRL’s 16 clubs claim Henry is too “hands-on” and inflexible in contract negotiations.

Back-rower Chris McQueen, one of few players at the club with Origin and premiership-winning experience, was lost to the Titans after squabbling with Henry over just $50,000.

At the Titans, McQueen is affectionately known as “The Sheriff”. A member of the leadership group, McQueen helped pen the squad’s core values and would oversee the fines system for players who breached team rules.

When McQueen sat down for contract-extension talks in February, Henry offered $300,000 a season. The former Queensland Origin forward’s management advised the Titans he would stay for $350,000. Henry refused to budge. The Titans were ultimately blown out of the water by a three-year offer from Wests Tigers worth $400,000 a season.

Where now for the struggling God Coast franchise? (Matt King/Getty Images)

It was Henry who backed the signing of troubled former Souths and Penrith forward Chris Grevsmuhl in March. By August, he had been sacked after just four games following his role in an alleged jersey-selling scandal.

Henry deserves credit for turning Broncos recruit Jarrod Wallace into an Origin player, but English import Dan Sarginson — signed by a former staffer for $400,000 — has been a highly-paid flop, playing just five games.

The Titans’ inaugural football manager, Scott Sattler, helped lay the bedrock by assembling the club’s maiden roster in 2007. He is not convinced Henry is the problem and challenged the club’s senior players to drive their cultural standards.

“Senior players control the behaviour of any club. They are the watchdogs for the coach,” said Sattler, the former Origin and Penrith premiership-winning lock.

“Leadership groups grow organically within a club, you can’t just pick a group and say these guys are leaders, the senior core evolve.

“It’s all about leadership. It’s not fair to expect Neil Henry to be blamed for everything that is going on at the Titans.”

Titans players have rallied in support of Henry this week but the charm offensive has come too late. It is time to stem the bleeding.

In rugby league, there is a saying that the coach is often the last to know he is headed for the exits. Walking the green mile, Henry will at least learn his fate this week.

Originally published as How Titans’ victory over Storm became the turning point when Neil Henry lost his players