The big Q&A: Titans coach Garth Brennan sees bright future for Gold Coast despite missing NRL finals
WHILE Garth Brennan may not have reached the finals in his first season, the coach has enjoyed some strong gains as the Titans look forward to a new era.
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HE arrived with the task of turning around the fortunes of the Gold Coast’s NRL side and while Garth Brennan may not have reached the finals in his first season, the mentor has enjoyed some strong gains as the Titans look forward to a new era.
Q: There must be some disappointment at not making the finals but are there also bright spots?
A: I’m disappointed that we’re not playing semi-final football as much as anyone but it’s my first year in charge and there’s some teething that needed to be done with the roster — some chops and changes and some debuting of young guys — and it’s exciting where the club’s going.
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Q: You’re still to play your final game but you’ll finish with fewer than 10 wins this season is that disappointing?
A: Although we haven’t won as many games as I would’ve liked, we’ve been in most of them and we’ve been in positions to win most of those games. when I first came here, I heard a lot from fans that they felt at times last year the boys weren’t trying and they’d given up and (to push the Storm) in the second-last round last Saturday, there was no way the boys had given up their season. I think the fans can walk away with some excitement at the attitude and culture in this football team is to never give up and they’ve shown that this year.
Q: How would you rate the season overall — would you give yourself a pass mark?
A: It’s probably divided into two. The fact that we’re not playing semi-final football, people would probably look at that as a failure and not a pass mark. I think it’s a pass mark in potential of where this club is heading.
Q: Why do you think the club is heading in the right direction now?
A: As an outsider looking at this club, it looked like it had not been built on any strong foundations, it looked like it was built for immediate success. If you build a flashy highrise with nothing holding it up, it’ll look pretty for a while but under pressure it’s going to crack and fall down. This club needs some foundations built so it’s strong long-term. “Future proofing” the Titans were the words I used when I first got here and that’s about setting up some pathways which is starting to happen. But it takes time and it’s important we get those foundations right first otherwise the building will crack whether I’m here or gone and I don’t want that.
Q: Is it the case that the same things that have been seen as negatives are also positives going forward?
A: What the year, I think, can give is hope. I hope the fans can be patient and realise that it doesn’t happen overnight. I want them to have a club that they can support every year and be proud of every year and we get to a stage where every year they expect to be in the eight — not hope to be in the eight.
Q: What have the players learnt this year that will help next season?
They’ve learnt how to compete, to stay in the fight and never give up. That’s the starting block to get that culture you want into the team.
Q: It’s been your first year as a head coach, has it been harder than you thought?
A: It’s been more demanding. I’m probably not coaching as much as I would have liked — that’s for a number of reasons, resources and things like that. But they’re things that we’re putting in place. The owners understand that and they’re very supportive of that; Dennis Watt, our executive chairman understands that there need to be more resources around the football department so I can focus more on my coaching.
Q: How is it different to what you were doing before in the Penrith system?
A: When you’re a lower grade coach, all you do is coach your footy team — and that’s the easy part. It’s the juggling of rosters and all that sort of thing, that has been challenging at times but it’s all part of the job that I’ve learnt along the way.
Q: You don’t play favourites — is your philosophy that no one is an automatic selection?
A: I pick people on performance and not on reputation. There’s been some behind closed doors conversations with some of our senior players about where their performances are. I think they understand if you get the chat, I’m willing to pull the trigger on it. Bryce (Cartwright) and Lani (Latu) are probably two high-profile ones that have come from Penrith that have been playing with Tweed because they haven’t been performing. At the start of the year no one had heard of Moe Fotuaika but he stepped up and has been doing the job and if someone is doing the job, they’ll get picked — regardless of what salary they’re on or what reputation they’ve come with. No one’s bigger than the club.
Q: What’s the hardest thing in making a successful team or club?
A: Probably getting hardworking culture and ethic within the team — getting the right people in the club that are there for the right reasons. It comes down to personnel a lot of the time.
Q: Does that mean assembling the best players in the competition in your team?
A: It’s not just a matter of saying if you get the best players, you’re going to win — it’s not always the case. It’s finding the right mix and the people who are in it for the right reasons. You need to ensure that the culture within the club is a hard-working culture. We have no d***heads in our club, that’s probably the biggest thing I’ve been conscious of and I’ve noticed throughout the year.
Q: That doesn’t always mean you won’t have problems though does it?
A: Obviously you worry about scandals going on in the club at times and you wonder what your players are doing when you’re not with them but we’ve got a really good mix of some young guys that are really focused and very driven and mature, with older guys that are family men with kids and have got family lives. So it’s a really good mix at the moment. The kids we have in the club, I’m so excited about — not just what they’re showing on the field but off the field which is even more pleasing for me.
Q: IS there anyone in the playing group that has surprised you this season?
A: Probably Jai Arrow (right). I said in the pre-season how impressed I was, he just blew me away how hard he trained and how determined and how focused he was. He came with no reputation but what he showed me was enough to say: you’re in my football team. And to go on and be a starting Origin player shows how far he’s come. At the start of the year, if you’d said to me Jai Arrow was going to be in the starting 13 for Queensland this season, I would have said you were dreaming but he keeps performing.
Q: Anyone else who has really impressed you?
A: There’s been a lot said about Ryan James’s push for representative honours but he does so much off the ball within the game. That’s why I was really disappointed he didn’t get picked for Origin and why I was very vocal with Freddy (Fittler) that I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t picking him because when he’s not there you really notice it.
Q: Are you optimistic about next year?
A: Someone asked me the other day if I was looking forward to having a break. I’m actually looking forward to 2019 — and that was after the game against Melbourne. You’d think I’d have been disappointed, and I was. But after that game, I thought, we’ve come so far. For a side that’s had nothing to play for, for the last month, we came back from a deficit against Manly, Penrith we took to golden point and we’ve been in the fight since. I’m excited about next year.
Q: Do you get the feeling the players are looking forward to it as well?
A: They are — and I hope the fans are as well. I hope they’re thinking: I’m going to go and get my membership for 2019 because I want to be ready to go for this. The results haven’t been where they needed to be but the performances have probably been where they needed to be, which gives the fans hope.
Q: The players are winning people over with their interactions after matches as well as during games. Is that important?
A: We don’t exist without our fans and our supporters and our members. I was a young kid as well at some stage and being a footy fan going to get an autograph or a photo — and I’ve been rejected by players that I looked up to and it stays with you for life. But I drive with my players the influence you can have on these young kids and supporters — that’s enormous and don’t take it for granted.
Garth Brennan
Age:46
Born: Newcastle
Previous NRL clubs: Newcastle under-20s (2010-11), Penrith under-20s (2012-13), Penrith NSW Cup (2014-15), Penrith NRL assistant coach (2016), Penrith Intrust Super Premiership (2017).
NRL head coaching debut: Round 1, 2018 — Gold Coast Titans v Canberra Raiders. Titans won 30-28
NRL coaching record: 8-15
Did you know:
■ Brennan was a strong player in his own right in his junior days, keeping future Origin star Robbie O’Davis out of the fullback spot at under-18 level in Newcastle
■ A successful coach at every level, this year will be the first time Brennan has not been involved in finals as a mentor
■ He has moved his family — wife Rachel and children Macy, Halle and Guy — to the Gold Coast as he works to build a successful club
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