Former NZ Test star Clinton Toopi discusses Gold Coast stint in this week’s Lost Titan feature
CLINTON Toopi could never have imagined the NRL rollercoaster that lay in wait when he arrived on the Gold Coast in 2010, as he discusses in this week’s Lost Titan feature.
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CLINTON Toopi could never have imagined the NRL rollercoaster that lay in wait when he arrived at the Gold Coast Titans in the 2010 pre-season.
With unfinished business at the top level, a then 29-year-old Toopi was handed a career lifeline by a Titans side on the brink of its greatest triumph.
A 129-game veteran at the New Zealand Warriors before three seasons in England with Leeds, Toopi’s first campaign on the Glitter Strip would deliver the club’s only preliminary final appearance to date.
But less than 12 months later, the 22-Test centre and his teammates suffered the ignominy of a maiden wooden spoon.
“We had our best and worst years but I loved the quality of players we had there … Anthony Laffranchi, Nathan Friend, Luke Bailey, Presto (Preston Campbell), Scott Prince, Mat Rogers,” Toopi, whose 27 Titans appearances yielded six tries, said.
“People didn’t realise that when I first came over the flame was still flickering (to play). I was very thankful the Titans gave me that opportunity.
“Those were golden times when I was there. The second year was hard, I was on my last years with my knees and chronic arthritis.
“It was hard to see where we had come from to where we ended up (but) I really enjoyed my football. I got the opportunity to come over and stay here and the Gold Coast was a very hard place to leave.”
But Toopi’s retirement at the end of 2011 was not the last time the Titans would play a vital role in his career.
Having dipped his toe into indigenous welfare work at the club, the experience gave birth to a new passion – delivering the NRL’s Voice Against Violence, State of Mind and In League In Harmony programs across Queensland.
“I had an offer to go over to Catalans to play under Trent Robinson (in 2012) but I decided, with my wife, to go into the real world,” he said.
“I’d been involved mainly with the (NRL’s) mental health program and eventually got invited to run a pilot In League In Harmony program in the Gold Coast-Brisbane area and because of the strong relationship with the Titans, we had our gala days at the Titans. I was an ambassador at first and then they saw that I had a passion for it and enjoyed it.
“This is the pathway the Titans paved out for me with Presto and Searley (former CO Michael Searle) at the time. We got a knack for facilitating and delivering programs.
“I never, ever thought I would do that. I probably wouldn’t be where I am now without the Titans giving me that opportunity.”
Toopi is also pursuing his interest in coaching, with the 39-year-old joining Rugby League Gold Coast club Ormeau as an assistant coach in recent weeks after guiding Souths Logan’s Mal Meninga Cup side earlier this year.
CLINTON TOOPI FACT FILE
AGE: 39
BORN: Stratford, New Zealand
POSITION: centre
TEAMS: New Zealand Warriors (129 games), Leeds Rhinos (46 games), Gold Coast Titans (27 games)
NOTES:
■ NRL debut for New Zealand Warriors vs. South Sydney in Round 9, 1999
■ Titans debut vs. Manly in Round 7, 2010 (a 24-22 win)
■ Twenty-two Tests for New Zealand, three for New Zealand Maori
■ Player-coached Runaway Bay to 2017 Rugby League Gold Coast A grade grand final, now an assistant at Ormeau Shearers
■ Now working as community program deliverer for the NRL
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