Gold Coast Titans great Luke Bailey weighs in on horror season & discusses top priority for 2020

Titans great Luke Bailey has weighed in on the club’s horror season and revealed what he believes should be among the top priorities for new coach Justin Holbrook in their 2020 rebuild.

TITANS great Luke Bailey has weighed in on the club’s horror season and revealed what he believes should be among the top priorities for new coach Justin Holbrook in their 2020 rebuild.

TITANS great Luke Bailey believes restoring the hard-working culture that was a feature of the club’s formative years should be among the top priorities for incoming coach Justin Holbrook in their 2020 rebuild.

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A renowned workhorse during his eight-year, 150-game career on the Gold Coast, foundation player Bailey watched in horror this season as the Titans recorded just four wins en route to the wooden spoon.

Among the criticisms from fans was a lack of commitment and unwillingness to roll up the sleeves and work hard – traits Bailey and forward cohorts like Anthony Laffranchi, Mark Minichiello and Ashley Harrison had no such issues with during the club’s early seasons.

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Now based in Wollongong, Bailey said there was no excuse for a lack of effort and called on Holbrook to lift on and off-field standards when he arrives on the Coast for pre-season.

Luke Bailey at Gold Coast Titans training in 2014. Picture: Jerad Williams

“The first couple of years, when (strength and conditioning coach) Billy Johnstone was there, the training was really hard. It separated the boys from the men. I look back and I think if he’d stuck around there might’ve been a bit more success,” the 39-year-old, who helped the Titans reach the 2010 preliminary final, said.

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“Obviously there’s a bit of rubbish happening there at the moment. I would’ve liked to have left the club in a better position because it hasn’t gone on from there. It’s not a pretty place.

“I feel like we worked hard to get a hard-working culture there but it’s sort of died off. I had hoped (injured captain) Ryan James would carry that on.

Bailey boxes with Martin Lang at training.

“As a player, I always said ‘when I finish I’m not going to be one of those guys who jumps on the bandwagon and sprays them when they’re down’. But you spill a lot of blood for the jersey.

“It’s disappointing it hasn’t gone on from there. I hope there’s new people up there who can turn it around. It’s a bit of a s*** fight.”

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The Titans signed off on their 2019 campaign with a 24-16 loss at home to St George-Illawarra on Saturday night, their 10-th straight defeat.

While Bailey said he was not an avid NRL watcher in retirement, he felt for good mate Laffranchi, who now works as the club’s football manager.