Retiring Titans veteran Michael Gordon discusses the past, present & future in this week’s Big Q&A
A 13-year, full-circle journey will come to an end when Titans veteran Michael Gordon plays his final NRL game today. The Tweed Coast product opens about the past, present and future in this week’s Big Q&A.
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A 13-year, full-circle journey will come to an end when Titans veteran Michael Gordon plays his final NRL game today. The Tweed Coast product opens about the past, present and future in this week’s Big Q&A.
Q. What’s the feeling like ahead of your last game? It must be a different experience.
A. It is because I know it’s the end but you’re still sort of preparing as if it’s business as usual. It’s hard to know how I’m going to feel at the moment but it will be mixed emotions I think. It probably won’t be until a month or two down the track that you know it’s all over. It’s been a long journey but one I’ve enjoyed thoroughly. It’s when you get to sit back and reflect on different clubs and different players and coaches and people that I’ve met along the way, it makes for a good journey.
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Q. Was the plan always for this season to be your last as an NRL player?
A. I was always pretty sure because even last year I started having thoughts of it and I thought that was probably a sign it is time. I gave myself the goal that if I got through pre-season and I was just hating it then I thought it would have been easier (to retire) but I got through feeling really good. But I basically always thought this would be my last year for sure.
Q. Did it make it an easier decision knowing AJ Brimson is there to take over the fullback role?
A. The club’s in a great position moving forward with the young players they’ve got and they can really build the club around them. For me, just being back home on the Coast, it’s taken me a while to get back here but I think it’s a fairytale for me being able to finish my career up here.
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Q. You’ve had your fair share of injuries. Did that play a part as well?
A. That part definitely comes into it. I’ve had nearly every injury possible over my career. I’ve had coming up to 10 surgeries at the end of this year and it does take its toll on your body. I had a couple of years at Penrith where I missed nearly the full season so I look at that now that it’s probably added to the back end of my career. But little things like the blood clot (in my calf this year), it was a weird injury because physically I felt great. It makes you realise there’s more to life than footy and maybe it was a good reality check that the body is showing signs that it’s had enough.
Q. Being a Tweed Coast product, having the chance to finish with the Titans must be cool.
A. I had an opportunity to come when they first got in, in 2007. I was speaking to the coach at the time and was super keen to come back but I’d just gotten an opportunity at Penrith, where I’d just started to play first grade, and I wanted to repay them. I always wonder if my career would’ve been different if I’d come up in that first year but I always look at it that just being able to finish up here is a fitting fairytale.
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Q. When you look back on your career, is there something you’re most proud of?
A. People talk about being a one-club player but I look at being able to play for five different clubs (as a good thing). I got to experience different players, different cultures, different staff. I like that I got to experience that and mingle with some of the best players and coaches in the business. To finish with a young family back home where I grew up, it’s pretty perfect for me.
Q. You mentioned starting out at Penrith. How did you end up there?
A. I was playing for Tweed in the Queensland Cup (in 2004) and the coach of Penrith, John Lang, he used to play for the Easts Tigers. We were on the ABC against the Easts Tigers and I was playing really well and that just sort of got the ball rolling. I ended up signing a two-year deal with Penrith at the end of that year. It was massive. I never really played junior reps and all that sort of stuff. I was 20, turning 21, and I looked at it as ‘I’ve got two years to have a shot and see what happens’.
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Q. How did you find the transition into the NRL?
A. It was tough at first but having a year of reserve grade was probably the best thing for me. I certainly wasn’t ready physically when I first went down. Playing reserve grade was great because you were playing against blokes that had played 100 first grade games and young guys that were coming through, so it was a real mixture of hardened players.
Q. What about the highlights of your career? There must be a few.
A. Obviously making your first grade debut. I got to play three games for NSW Country. I played one Origin, that was a massive highlight. It’s hard to think of individual games because I’ve had some seasons where I’ve gone really good and then seasons like this where we’ve come last. But I’ve still tried to enjoy the good and the bad of rugby league. It is a rollercoaster but obviously the personal milestones are just a side note to what the team’s doing really. When I first went to Penrith they were stacked full of internationals. They had Preston Campbell, Craig Gower, the Puletuas (Tony and Frank), Trent Waterhouse, so I was just in awe and then you become friends with them. Then I went to Cronulla and played with (Paul) Gallen and Luke Lewis and Todd Carney. Parramatta and the Roosters had great players too. Then you come back here and there’s so many great players and so many good young kids coming through. I got to experience every part of it so it’s been a hell of a ride.
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Q. And on the flip side of that - have you had any major regrets throughout your career?
A. Not so much regrets. There was probably a couple of major injuries at the wrong time that hurt my potential of playing more rep footy and that sort of stuff but that’s just part of the game. You can’t look back and say ‘if I hadn’t got injured I’d have done this or that’. It’s the nature of the beast. I got to play for a long time and had a lot of fun and met a lot of great people along the way. You can’t really have any regrets about that.
Q. The expectations on the Titans this season were pretty high. Where has it all gone wrong?
A. It’s hard to put it on one (thing). It was just like a chain reaction. I was super confident after pre-season. You get a good feeling after some pre-seasons and I had a great one after this one. We lost a few games early, which was not ideal but I was still confident. Then we won a couple of games and then it just seemed like from there the wheels fell off and they just kept falling off. We just kept having injury after injury and it just felt like everything that could possibly go wrong did. Sometimes you just have those seasons and it can be super frustrating and the boys, to their credit, they’ve still been doing their best and trying to have a smile on their face.
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Q. So how does the club go about turning it around for a successful 2020 season?
A. Obviously a new coach (Justin Holbrook) coming in will have different philosophies. It’s probably good he’s been away in England and doesn’t have to have the baggage of what’s gone on this year. I’m pretty sure it will be a nice, fresh start and a clean slate for him. I think for the club, you can’t get any lower than where we are at the moment so I’m predicting only good times ahead. I’m pretty sure we’re up there as one of the top in the NRL at the moment for having local juniors in the top squad. That’s a great sign for the area and a great sign for the club.
Q. So what’s next for you? Have you got things in place for life after footy?
A. Me and the missus own a coffee shop in Cabarita so I’ll be in there a lot more now. I’ve been talking to Mal (Meninga) and the Titans about staying on in some kind of role next year, whether it’s just one or two days a week and helping out with the AJs and some of the other young boys. If I can get just a small role with the club (it would be great) because I’m really excited to be a part of it going forward. I think the club’s headed for great things and I’d love to be a part of it. I think that would be a perfect balance of coffee shop and football. I don’t think I’m cut out for (head coaching). It’s a pretty ruthless industry as a player and it’s even worse for a coach so I think a small role being able to help out wherever I can but not having all the burdens that come with it, that’s probably better suited for me.
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Q. You’ve got a surfing group with a few of the Titans players too. Keen to keep that going?
A. For sure. Reiny (Mitch Rein) lives not far from me. Him and Donny (Anthony Don) and Keegan (Hipgrave) all love surfing so I try to get them to come down my way whenever we’ve got a day off so I can’t see that changing. I’ll probably be surfing more than them because they’ll be training more. It’s just one of those things that whenever they have time off they come down and have a surf.
THE MICHAEL GORDON FACT FILE
AGE: 35
JUNIOR CLUB: Tweed Coast Raiders
NRL CLUBS: Penrith (2006-12), Cronulla (2013-15), Parramatta (2016), Sydney Roosters (2017), Gold Coast (2018-19)
NRL GAMES: 260 (92 tries, 1726 points)
NOTES:
■ One State of Origin for NSW in 2010
■ Three appearances for NSW Country (2011, 2013, 2017)
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