Former Titan Clinton Toopi says he’s to blame for club’s spectacular NRL demise
A CANDID former Titan has made the shock admission his arrival at the club may have played a role in their spectacular NRL demise.
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A CANDID Clinton Toopi has made the shock admission his arrival at the Titans in 2010 may have played a role in the club’s spectacular NRL demise.
Bound for the club’s second wooden spoon following Sunday’s 24-8 loss to Melbourne, the Titans have recorded just four wins in 22 games in a season marred by the sacking of coach Garth Brennan, rumours of player unrest and a dramatic fall from grace for star playmaker Ash Taylor.
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It is a far cry from the 2010 outfit, which included New Zealand Warriors recruit Toopi, that reached the preliminary final before falling 32-6 to the Sydney Roosters.
Toopi’s second and final year with the Titans was the only other time the club has finished at the foot of the ladder, with the six-win season their worst yield since entering the competition in 2007.
With several big-money flops – headlined by Jarryd Hayne, Jamal Idris and Dave Taylor - arriving on the Glitter Strip over the past decade, Toopi, 39, said the club may now be paying the price for recruiting from outside the region instead of looking in their own backyard.
“That’s probably something that could’ve dampened the enthusiasm from some players (from the Coast),” Toopi, who has remained on the Coast since arriving from New Zealand, said.
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“Personally, I felt like maybe because I was an outsider and a couple of other players were too, maybe we didn’t fit the mould and hadn’t done enough to be ahead of other guys who were from the Gold Coast.
“I could have been the reason (for the club’s decline), being an outsider coming in. It’s probably a reason why we lost so many (players) that slipped through our hands.
“We were bringing in guys like Jamal Idris and Jarryd Hayne – I have nothing against those guys – on massive money and it might’ve created a bit of animosity towards becoming a Titans player for guys in our Queensland Cup teams. There were maybe guys that didn’t have the same zest to play for the Titans as other guys playing on the Gold Coast.”
Toopi said Melbourne Storm fullback Jahrome Hughes, a Gold Coast junior who spent two years with the Titans in 2013-14, was a prime example.
“Look at a guy like Jahrome Hughes. He was in our system for a long time and he’s gone to the Melbourne Storm and taken over from the world’s best fullback (Billy Slater),” he said.
“That’s a massive complement to him. Maybe we were looking outside and not realising the potential we had in our own backyard.”
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