Titans coach Justin Holbrook rubbishes rumours Shannon Boyd could be forced out of the club

TITANS coach Justin Holbrook has opened up about Shannon Boyd’s future at the club amid speculation the former Test prop could be offloaded before the end of his big-money deal.

TITANS coach Justin Holbrook has rubbished suggestions Shannon Boyd could be offloaded before the end of his big-money deal, insisting the former Test prop can play a key role in the club’s 2020 revival.

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On the comeback from major shoulder surgery, Boyd was dragged into the off-season player transfer circus last week following a report the Titans had been shopping him to NRL rivals.

Brought to the Gold Coast on a four-year contract reportedly worth more than $2 million, the 27-year-old struggled for impact in his maiden campaign with the club before the shoulder injury prematurely ended his season in August.

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Averaging 86.7m and 22 tackles across his 13 appearances for the wooden-spooners, Boyd’s form was a far cry from the efforts of 2016, when he emerged as an NRL force with Canberra to play five Tests for the Kangaroos.

Titans prop Shannon Boyd (left). Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

However, Holbrook has not given up on the 122kg giant, believing improved fitness standards under Titans head of performance Dan Ferris can help him recapture his former glory.

“He’s still coming back from shoulder (surgery) but he’ll be right in a couple of months and he’s doing really well in his rehab. He’s lost some weight and his skinfolds are good,” Holbrook said of the 124-game veteran.

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“He’s going well. From talking to Dan Ferris, he’s really happy with where he’s at now compared to where he was 12 months ago and that’s the same for a lot of the boys.

“His name has never come up once as to being moved on from the club, from anybody. I can honestly say I’ve got no idea where that’s come from because people were telling me that (I would let him go).

Boyd in action for the Kangaroos in 2016. Picture: AAP Image/Richard Wainwright

“But it hasn’t come from me at all or anyone in the club. He played for Australia a couple of years ago so he doesn’t have to learn how to play rugby league, that’s for sure.

“We’ve just got to get him right, get his body right and get him out there.”

Part of that process, Holbrook said, was improving Boyd’s aerobic capacity to allow him to play more minutes.

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“The best thing he can do is run. He’s got an injury that’s stopping him doing weights but he hasn’t got any issue in that (running) area,” he said.

“He’s lost some weight and for a big bloke, they’re the ones that get affected the most. If your backs come back (to pre-season) a couple of kilos over, they can lose that in a couple of weeks but the big blokes, for them to lose weight in big numbers, it’s hard.”