Gold Coast Titans coach Justin Holbrook weighs in on Jayden Campbell’s future
After a Titans star voiced his initial frustrations remaining unsure where his future lay amid reports of a poaching raid, his coach has weighed in on the young gun’s direction.
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Titans coach Justin Holbrook believes peace talks with Jayden Campbell will position the club to retain his services, after the livewire fullback voiced his initial frustrations at being left on the bench.
Campbell has been in dynamic form since AJ Brimson succumbed to a hamstring injury, averaging 143 running metres and nearly five tackle busts a game since returning to the number one jumper.
He pressed his case further with 135m and a pair of tackle busts in the 43-26 defeat to the Broncos on Saturday night, however Brimson’s imminent return for the forthcoming clash against the Dolphins could force Campbell to the pine once again
But while Campbell spoke last week about his disappointment at being left in limbo regarding where his future on the field lay, and with reports circulating of a potential recruitment raid by Parramatta, Holbrook declared his conversations with the 23-year-old had been productive regarding his career direction.
The Gold Coast honcho said Campbell’s ability to shift between positions for the season would ultimately improve him as a player in the long run, and declared he still had a future in Titans’ colours.
“We spoke about it in pre-season; last year we sort of threw him right in and he missed a few games through injury,” Holbrook said.
“It’s better for his development this year he comes on a bit slower and learns a lot more in learning other positions.
“I think wherever he ends up you have a better understanding of the game playing multiple positions, you understand what other people have got to do in certain times so I think he’ll end up a better player in the long run which we both agreed on is the best for his development.
“We’ve seen that already. However it pans out over the coming weeks we’re in a great position. He loves the club and we love him, that’s always been the case and that’s not going to change.
“Hopefully AJ will be back next week and we’ll worry about it then. It’s a good headache to have, we need good players and we probably missed AJ (on Saturday night) in different parts of the game. “We’ll fit them all in, we just have to get them back.”
Upon suffering his injury setback against the North Queensland Cowboys, Brimson said he had aimed for a comeback against Wayne Bennett’s Dolphins; a predication which appears set to occur.
The one-time Origin star has reportedly been running well for the past two weeks, and Titans five-eighth Kieran Foran confirmed his teammates looked primed for a mighty return.
“He’s on track, he’s tracking really well. I guess he’s still just working through his rehab program with the medical team and they’re doing a tremendous job with him,” Foran said.
“He’s running really well so he should not be too far off.”
‘I want to win a premiership’: Titans star addresses Eels links (April 11)
Titans star Jayden Campbell has moved to dispel reports linking him with a potential switch to the Parramatta Eels, admitting while he has endured a frustrating start to the 2023 season he was committed to realising his premiership dream on the Gold Coast.
The 23-year-old at last got the chance to don the number one jumper in his side’s win over the Dragons on Sunday in the absence of AJ Brimson, released from his bench utility role to score a try and run for 158m in the 20-18 triumph.
It is a role he will continue for Saturday’s Queensland derby with the Broncos, a game which will also feature the return of star five-eighth Kieran Foran.
However the son of Titans great Preston Campbell declared he was committed to his contract on the Glitter Strip, which expires at the end of 2024, despite his disappointment at being left on the outer unsure of where his future role in the side lay.
He said it was the advice of his famous father who calmed his frustration surrounding his position in the team, as he sought to create his own dynasty in Titans’ colours.
“I wasn’t really too fazed about it (the Eels link), I’ve got a contract here until 2024 but my mindset is with the Titans at the moment and winning a premiership here,” Campbell said.
“During pre-season I trained everywhere — centres, five-eighth, fullback — but I think this year is one of those year’s I’m going to find a position set in stone. It’s going to be a slow year for me but hopefully I’ll find out soon.
“At the start of the whole situation I was a little bit frustrated and a little bit upset, but my old boy spoke to me and gave me advice and I saw where he was coming from and what he was saying.
“I keep having chats with him and mum, the help me out a lot, but I keep having chats with the coaches as well and they make me feel more confident in my game and what’s going to happen for me here.
“When it comes to other clubs my old boy is not too keen on it, he wants me to stay here and I want to stay here. Gold Coast is where I want to stay and where I want to win a premiership, it’s what I want.”
Campbell will have the perfect chance to prove to Titans coach Justin Holbrook he deserves the fullback job long term when he goes head to head with Brisbane star Reece Walsh.
Walsh, a product of Keebra Park, has emerged as one of the form players of the NRL; laying on eight try assists and 12 linebreak assists from just five games this season.
Even in a losing cause to Canberra last week the 20-year-old shone with 157m and 10 tackle busts to go with a linebreak assist and try assist at Suncorp Stadium.
Campbell could not help but grin when asked about his forthcoming battle with Walsh, as the chance to outgun the speedster sure to impress his claims for a starting spot.
“Walshy is a great player, he’s been killing it this year and not just Walshy but the Broncos team as a whole,” Campbell said.
“It’s going to be a great challenge and I’m really excited for it.”
Sexton, Campbell and Sami star as Titans slay Dragons VIDEO (April 3)
LATEST: Call him the comeback kid.
Returning Gold Coast Titans halfback Toby Sexton has spearheaded the Gold Coast side’s stunning take down of the St George Illawara Dragons with a last-gasp try.
The Gold Coast Titans emerged 20-18 victors in the NRL clash after Sexton threw a dummy to break the Dragons line - and their supporters’ hearts - before diving over to tie the game 18-18.
Teammate Tanah Boyd slotted the angled conversion to give the Titans the lead 20-18 with two minutes left.
Moments earlier Dragons playmaker Ben Hunt had seemingly given them the winning lead by scampering over to lead 18-14, with a missed conversion.
It was a nip and tuck affair at Titans fortress Cbus Super Stadium.
Titans were under strength without key stars AJ Brimson and Kieran Foran out nursing injuries.
Fullback Jayden Campbell also scored for the Titans with a double round involving Sexton under the posts. A brilliant Phillip Sami later steamrolled his way to the tryline from about 20 metres out in an incredible solo run keep the Titans on par with the Dragons.
The win keeps the Titans in the top eight ahead of their Queensland derby against the Brisbane Broncos at home at Cbus Super Stadium on Saturday.
Earlier in the clash, tempers flared with Titans skipper Tino Fa’asuamaleaui scuffling with Dragons fullback Tyrell Sloan. Remarkably, no one was marched despite it descening into an all-in dust-up.
EARLIER: In the pre-match build-up to his NRL first grade comeback Gold Coast Titans halfback Toby Sexton declared: “I’m in the best head space I’ve been in for a long time”.
That was the mindset of Sexton, as he readied to replace injured five-eighth Kieran Foran and announce his NRL comeback.
As the veteran recruit nurses a calf tear suffered in the Round Four loss to North Queensland, Sexton has been named to return to the Gold Coast scrumbase for the first time since his 2022 axing.
Once lauded the club’s long-term halfback following Jamal Fogarty’s release, the 22-year-old struggled along with his teammates throughout a 10-game losing streak last year; eventually finishing the campaign in the Queensland Cup.
It is for Tweed Seagulls he has begun his season, rediscovering his zest for rugby league and a running game which alluded him last year.
Across 19 games in 2022, Sexton averaged just 25m each outing to go with 13 try assists and seven linebreak assists. Thus far his four games in the state competition have already yielded four try assists, four linebreak assists and 93m a game.
Sexton may have endured a baptism of fire in 2022, as scrunity around his position reared, but the man himself said he had put that experience behind him and would be returning to take on the St. George-Illawarra Dragons in the “best head space” he had ever been in.
He said Seagulls coach and former Parramatta Eel Dave Penna had been instrumental in that, having helped him emerge from a time where he admitted to being “pretty down as a player.”
“Honestly I don’t really listen to media much, I’ve got a good family environment around me and obviously the footy players here too,” Sexton said.
“Outside my environment, their opinions don’t really necessarily matter much to me. It was tough, and at the end of the day any player who plays NRL is going to be competitive.
“I was fortunate enough to come through the junior ranks and win a lot of games and not be open to a big losing season. Last year I think I won three out of 20 games and I think any player is going to struggle with that.
“It was more so just not enjoying my footy rather than losing confidence. Right now I’m in probably the best head space I’ve been in a long time and I’m really enjoying my footy.
“I’m in a really good head space at the moment and when I get my shot I know I’ll make the most of it.”
Sexton’s yesteryear woes are an experience not unique, with any side’s halfback often shouldering much of the burden when it comes to a team’s flailing attack.
The likes of Jake Clifford and Ash Taylor both received the brunt of expectation as young halfbacks; praised as the heir apparent to the likes of Johnathan Thurston and Scott Prince and called on to deliver immediate results.
However Sexton said finding peace with seperating his football and personal life had been key to him relishing his time on the field, and he called on other developing talents to do the same and learn to escape the magnified environment of the NRL.
“There’s nothing quite like an NRL environment. It’s pretty full on, and for a lot of the young kids you think you’re the be all and end all at school, then you get into an NRL environment and you’re back down to the bottom of the food chain,” Sexton said.
“I guess it can be a big shock, you see now how much pressure kids get put under from such a young age to be with clubs and so forth.
“I’m pretty fortunate I still live at home with mum and dad and two brothers, so they keep me pretty grounded. It’s just about when footy’s on I’m all about footy, but as soon as I’m in my outside environment I can get away from footy and just be normal again.
“Especially last year when we were in bad form I think that’s when I relied on it most and if you’re good mentally it goes a long way to playing good footy and feeling good physically too.”
In a twist of fate, Sexton will line up alongside with the man who unseated him for the halfback jumper in Tanah Boyd, with the latter swapping to the left edge where he will link up with Keebra Park teammate David Fifita.
When the Gold Coast last took on the Dragons, Boyd was guilty of a series of errors off the boot which proved costly — short drop outs, kicks out on the full and failing to find touch on penalties among them.
While the 22-year-old said in the past he had allowed poor performances to impact him in following weeks, he declared he had learned to cope with those setbacks.
“I was very disappointed with how I’d performed, but I knew I had to bounce back pretty quick. You can snowball those performances but I just had the right mindset,” Boyd said.
“I just wanted to flush it and I knew that wasn’t how I play. It takes time, NRL is a different beast. It’s been a big three years of learning, but in saying that I’m still learning.
“I feel like I still have to take control of the team and lead the boys around, but he (Sexton) has to do his job as well. He’s been there and done that, he knows what he needs to do.”
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