Gold Coast Titans boss reveals recruitment plans, return of NRL and 2020 goals

Titans CEO Steve Mitchell explains why the COVID-19 shutdown stands to be advantageous for the team and shuts down talk of short-term marquee signings.

Gold Coast Titans chief executive Steve Mitchell has opened up on the affect the coronavirus shutdown has had on his NRL club, how the team have handled isolation and why it may prove the catalyst to launch the Titans back to the finals.

GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 18: Titans CEO Steve Mitchell speaks to media during a Gold Coast Titans NRL media opportunity at Titans High Performance Centre on March 18, 2020 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

TITAN TECH

Few sports lean so heavily on timing, communication and reading the play of your teammates as rugby league; at the elite level, those prerequisites become all-consuming as the slightest errors can break down even the best-designed plays.

Balancing the need to train together against government regulations prohibiting gatherings has been an almighty challenge, but one the Titans have navigated with the help of technology.

High performance staff and coaches have been in constant contact with players in their mission to maintain NRL-standards of fitness in their backyards.

“We’ve been utilising technology to do not just training but nutrition and diet,” Mitchell said.

“They’ve all be on their own individualised training programs, hooked in to high performance and coaching staff through multiple weekly zoom meetings.

“We’re keeping them in the best condition we can keep them in before the mini pre-season (begins on May 4).”

TIME FOR PROBLEM-SOLVING

The regular season is no time to reinvent the wheel but the extended break has presented the Titans with a golden opportunity to reboot their season.

The NRL’s six undefeated teams will despair the loss of their early-season momentum but the break has offered Justin Holbrook critically needed time to solve his side’s early season woes and explore new options.

The break has also allowed time for players to heal, with cavalry in the form of Moeaki Fotuaika, AJ Brimson, Shannon Boyd, Dale Copley, Tyrone Roberts and skipper Kevin Proctor expected to arrive fully fit for round three.

“The break has been advantageous for us,” the Titans boss admitted.

“We’d shown glimpses, at the Nines and winning a trial against the Broncos in Redcliffe, but the first two (NRL) fixtures were less than what we wanted to see.

“(The shutdown) has given our coaching staff time to review and look across the squad and work out where they want to see improvement, not just with the players but the structural flow of the game.

“We’ve got a new coaching staff with Justin and Jim Lenihan and Jim Dymock and they’re building a new High Performance environment with the players.”

Mitchell said that work had continued through the COVID-19 shutdown and team would be ready to tackle their May 28 return.

SHARPENING THE SWORDS

Jordan Rapana of the Raiders in action during the NRL Preliminary Final match between the Canberra Raiders and South Sydney Rabbitohs at GIO Stadium in Canberra, Friday, September 27, 2019. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

The rugby league news cycle has salivated for weeks over the prospects of bringing some of the code’s favourite prodigal sons back to the NRL.

Gold Coast products Ben Te’o and Jordan Rapana have been floated in addition to aspirant code-hopper Quade Cooper and Sonny Bill Williams, on short-term contracts.

But would the Titans be interested in bringing players of that calibre into the fold at Parkwood?

“No we’re not, to be honest,” Mitchell said.

“They’re great athletes but that doesn’t speak to our long-term view of sustainability and success.

“Short-term contracts of high profile players aren’t what we’re focused on.

“We’re being strategic with the composition of our squad.”

As it stands, Justin Holbrook will need to replace star import Kallum Watkins with a talent already on the books – a marked demonstration that the Titans have wizened up from the recruiting misfires of the past.

New Gold Coast Titans Head Coach Justin Holbrook speaks to the media. Pics Adam Head

NEW WORLD ORDER

The sporting landscape will likely never be the same again in rugby league as a period of rationalisation and consolidation takes root, Mitchell said.

Sporting clubs have been exposed to just how precarious their positions have been in the wake of COVID-19, and finding stability is going to force teams at all levels to find answers to difficult questions.

The Gold Coast’s Intrust Super Cup sides are in the middle of that process now, with funding from the governing QRL body slashed.

Mitchell said the on-field success of Burleigh and Tweed Heads in the NRL feeder competition boded well for their survival through a difficult period.

“For the QRL, across all the state league competitions, it’s a time of rationalisation at all tiers,” he said.

“We will see rationalisation of clubs that sit within those separate competitions and how they operate.

“Burleigh’s long-term success has been strong, so as the Titans are reshaping our business so will they.

“Tweed have had some good years and with their changes at CEO they’ll push on.

“Both will compete and they both have a future in front of them, but like us, they’ll have to consolidate their business due to shrinkage in the economic pie.”

CLUB COMP CAN’T AFFORD TO RUSH

Optimism about the NRL’s return has lit a fire in under the Gold Coast’s club football community hoping to return to their respective competitions as soon as possible.

Rushing towards a wide-scale return would be a mistake, the Titans chief warned.

“What we’ve got to do is go back to the greater part of community health issue,” Mitchell said.

“Local and state competitions can come back online when all chief medical officers are satisfied we have the risk of infection contained.

“Those comps are dictated by those people being in a position where they say they’re happy with the state of play.

“Everyone wants to play again but we have to listen to health experts first and foremost.”