Gold Coast Titans owners say Queensland Government is imposing its own salary cap on them

GOLD Coast saviour Darryl Kelly has warned the Titans will miss out on the chance to sign a quality player and develop juniors if the club does not secure a $500,000 stadium discount.

GOLD Coast saviour Darryl Kelly has warned the Titans will miss out on the chance to sign a quality player and develop juniors if the club does not secure a $500,000 stadium discount.

The Titans have been feuding with Stadiums Queensland for more than three years over the exorbitant costs to hire the Robina venue.

The club pays $1.3 million annually – about $110,000 a game – to play at the 27,500-seat stadium.

Darryl Kelly, Jo Kelly, NRL boss Todd Greenberg and Rebecca Frizelle at the press conference to announce the new Titans owners. Picture: Glenn Hampson

The Bulletin yesterday revealed the Titans were considering shifting their Round 17 derby against the Broncos to Redcliffe’s Dolphin Stadium.

Kelly bought the club last year in partnership with former chair Rebecca Frizelle.

“Our aim has always been to stay at Cbus but we also aim to have a successful team on the Gold Coast and we can’t do it while we’re paying $500,000 a year more than what we should be paying,” Kelly said.

“That is robbing us of the chance to have another good footballer in our NRL squad, or money to expand our junior development programs.”

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Frizelle said the Titans were dealing with a government-imposed salary cap via Stad­ium Queensland.

“Because of this deal, we are effectively playing one man down,” she said. “And that one man is an Australian representative player.

“Rather than tipping further funds into government revenue, it is our preference to invest this money in junior rugby league across the Gold Coast and northern NSW.

“We need to invest in our kids.

“The challenge we face is simple. If you rent a house and you know the landlord is charging you double what you should be paying, you leave or negotiate a different tenancy agreement.

“The Palaszczuk Government with its wholly owned Stadiums Queensland is the landlord in this case, and we are the only tenant.

“We and the NRL have tried repeatedly and shown independent research and facts to demonstrate that Stadiums Queensland is not charging market rent.

“This situation is unsustainable. The Titans are not being propped up by taxpayers’ money, the Titans are being funded by Gold Coast people and families who have worked hard to ensure Australia’s sixth largest city has its own club.”

Frizelle said the situation was a matter of principle as much as it is a cold hard balance sheet reality.

“If we are forced to leave CBus because of the crippling charges, the stadium will be an empty white elephant as nobody else can afford to play or perform there,” she said.

“We will have to weather the disappointment of our fans, members and corporates until we can reach agreement but we will at least be able to continue playing and investing in our club and our junior development – our sponsors understand this is the bottom line.”

“We hold out hope that we will be able to reach a long-term commercial agreement with Stadiums Queensland that will get us close to a level playing field with rival our NRL clubs”.