Gold Coaster Tazmin Gray joins Titans’ NRLW side for 2021 season
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THE PREMIERE second-rower in women’s rugby league will finally get the chance to represent her Gold Coast home on the NRLW stage.
Just days after Tazmin Gray was awarded the Nellie Doherty medal for her best-on-ground performance in Queensland’s 8-6 State of Origin win, the 25-year-old was revealed as one of five marquee player signings for the Gold Coast Titans’ inaugural NRLW team.
Gray (pictured) has had a June to remember, first winning the BHP Premiership with Burleigh before Friday night’s Origin success and now, finally, she is a Titan.
The Palm Beach Currumbin SHS product joins fellow Burleigh teammates Karina Brown, Crystal Tamarua and Brittany Breayley-Nati at the Titans, alongside Tweed Seagulls star Georgia Hale.
Gray grew up not far from Cbus Stadium and will finally get the chance to play for her hometown club, after stints with the Sydney Roosters (2018), Brisbane Broncos (2019) and New Zealand Warriors (2020).
Former Warriors teammates Brown, Hale and Tamarua will link with Gray once again at the Titans, after the New Zealand team was forced to withdraw from the 2021 NRLW season.
Brown, 32, is a two-time World Cup-winning Jillaroo and six-time Queensland representative.
Hale, 25, captained the Warriors last season and is co-captain of the New Zealand national team. She reunites will fellow Kiwi Ferns forward Tamarua, 25, at the Titans.
Experienced rake Breayley-Nati, 30, joins the Titans having sat out the 2020 NRLW season due to work and family commitments.
The 2018 Dally M Female Player of the Year previously played for the Broncos (2018) and Dragons (2019).
The Titans will announce further squad members in the coming weeks as the club builds towards this season.
Brown gets her wish: ‘You have to pinch yourself’
THERE is perhaps no person more deserving of donning the Titans’ blue and gold than proud Gold Coaster Karina Brown.
Brown, 32, was the founder and driving force of the Burleigh Bears women’s team – which this month won its sixth grand final since its inception in 2012.
She has long been one of the key female figures in Coast rugby league and the game owes a great deal to her input.
Now Brown, a two-time World Cup-winning Australian Jillaroos representative and nine-time Queensland Maroon, will be the face of the Gold Coast’s latest women’s rugby league triumph.
She joins fellow Burleigh players Tazmin Gray, Crystal Tamarua and Brittany Breayley-Nati, and Tweed Seagulls star Georgia Hale as the Titans’ NRLW marquee signings.
“A few days ago I won State of Origin and now I’m at the Titans (NRLW) launch,” Brown said on Monday.
“It’s been a great week. You have to pinch yourself.”
Brown was alongside Gray at the announcement of the Titans’ entry into the NRLW this month but at the time was still unsure of where she would play in 2021.
“I was obviously hoping I would get to be a Titan and I guess it’s all just worked out perfectly,” she said.
“I’m feeling very proud and quite ecstatic.
“Obviously I started the Burleigh Bears in 2012 and to now have the next stop on that pathway for girls to aspire to I think is pretty wonderful.”
Gray, Tamarua, Hale and Brown played for the NZ Warriors in last year’s NRLW, and the experienced outside back said the familiarity with each other would make early life at the Titans easier.
“It’s a great first five (signings),” Brown said.
“There’s a strong connection with four of us playing for the Warriors and Brittany who lives on the Gold Coast as well.
“They wanted to be Titans from the start, so it’s really great we’ve all landed in a position we wanted to be in.”
EXPLAINED: Titans one of three new NRLW teams for 2021
THE GOLD Coast Titans will join the Newcastle Knights and Parramatta Eels as one of three expansion teams to enter the NRLW for season 2021.
Australian Rugby League Commissioner Kate Jones was at Cbus Stadium on Friday to officially announce the Titans’ inclusion in the expanded six-team competition, joining inaugural clubs the Broncos, Roosters and Dragons.
Jones confirmed the New Zealand Warriors had dropped out of the 2021 season, citing “Covid complications”, leaving six teams to compete in the NRLW’s fourth year.
She said the NRL and Warriors would work to return the club to the competition down the track.
“This is really exciting (for rugby league),” Jones said.
“We’re seeing new clubs joining up in our growth areas with huge populations like here on the Gold Coast, as well as rugby league heartland in places like Parramatta and Newcastle.
“We’ve had three seasons of the NRLW and it’s really exciting that now, going into our fourth season, we can expand the game like this.”
Titans CEO Steve Mitchell said the club would host double-headers at Cbus Stadium, with the NRLW side to play curtain raisers to its NRL counterpart.
Jones confirmed the seven-week NRLW competition would begin in Round 23 of the NRL Telstra Premiership season – leaving the door open for the Titans to open the 2021 NRLW season on Thursday, August 19, when the NRL side is fixtured to host the Melbourne Storm.
No official draw has yet been released.
Titans co-owner Rebecca Frizelle welcomed the announcement as a “historic day” for the club.
“This is something we’ve been working towards since 2018 when we initially put our name forward to have a women’s side in the NRLW,” Frizelle said.
“We can’t wait to get cracking in a couple of months’ time with our teams.
“I’m sure the Gold Coast will get behind (the team) and be here at all the double-headers we’ll roll out when we get going.”
Mitchell said the inclusion of a Gold Coast franchise in the NRLW was “one of the big missing pieces” that the Titans had finally been able to fill.
“As a nursery this is one of the biggest female participation patches you’ll see in the country,” he said.
“It has one of the most mature women’s competitions in the country as well and we’re looking forward to giving these athletes an opportunity to play on the national stage.
“We’re looking forward to them making us proud. This is a great day for the club.”
Marquee NRLW stars and Gold Coast locals Karina Brown and Tazmin Gray attended the official announcement.
Both Brown and Gray played for the Warriors in the 2020 NRLW season and with their former club now out of the competition, will be heavily linked to the Titans.
Brown, 32, said the players and NRL were still finalising the top 30 marquee placements across the six clubs but hoped she would soon call herself a Titan.
“To have another Queensland team here at the Gold Coast Titans is really special and fingers crossed I can get here because I’m a Gold Coast girl and would love to be part of it,” the Burleigh Bears BHP Premiership winner said.
“We do hope to lock that in soon because we have a State of Origin to play in two weeks’ time and we want to put our focus into that … and then pre-season for the NRLW kicks off on July 12, so it will happen pretty quickly.”
Gray, 25, grew up in Elanora and is the sister of 2008 Titan Jordan Rapana, now with the Canberra Raiders.
“I’ve said it in years (past that the Gold Coast) is legitimately home for me and I’m really excited to have a club so close to home,” the Australia and Queensland representative second-rower said.
“I know there’s a lot of girls who live here and have grown up here – to be able to play for your hometown is always an exciting time.”
Jones said the NRL hoped to finalise the allocation of marquee players “as soon as possible”, adding the only absolute at this stage was that player salaries would increase.
“That’s something the commission is very supportive of and those negotiations are continuing,” Jones said.
EARLIER: Titans announce bold new expansion
The Gold Coast Titans will join the NRLW competition in 2021 and the club is determined to bring the trophy back to the Coast.
Home to some of the best female athletes in the country, the Gold Coast will now provide a pathway from juniors to the national stage as Titans.
Titans CEO Steve Mitchell says the announcement is significant for the Gold Coast.
“Entry to the NRLW has been an key aspiration of the club for a number of years with the region being one of the strongest nurseries of elite female Rugby League player talent in the country,” Mitchell said.
“We want to ensure that the best of our young local talent have a direct pathway to the national stage.
“Now, with this announcement, you can graduate from the Titans School League, into our Junior Titans System and progress into NRLW.”
Titans co-owner Rebecca Frizelle says it’s time that the region’s best female athletes become Titans.
“This is a wonderful and significant step forward in the evolution of our club,” Frizelle said.
“There is a place in the game for everyone at the Titans and this announcement demonstrates that women’s game is a strategic imperative for our organisation.
“Our NRLW program is fundamental to the success of the Titans now and into the years to come.
“As a club we are intrinsically connected to the region we represent and now, through our NRLW team, young girls will have athletes that they can aspire to be.”
The Titans will announce key coaching and playing appointments in the coming weeks as the club builds towards the start of the 2021 NRLW Premiership.
Mackin looks to the skies for silver lining after MCL injury
JACK Mackin could only laugh at the cruel twist of injury fate he inflicted on himself a few weeks ago with a seemingly harmless throwaway line.
Discussing injury history with his Runaway Bay teammates, Mackin declared: “my knees have always been sweet – I’m lucky”.
Not 10 minutes into the second-half of Sunday’s 32-22 win over Mudgeeraba, Mackin looked to run through a hole in the Redbacks defence but was cut down from the side in a tackle.
“Someone dived at my legs and it was the pressure inward into my knee,” he said.
The Seagulls’ star number one left the field with fears of an anterior cruciate ligament injury – scans taken on Monday revealed a grade three complete tear of the medial cruciate ligament.
It was the best news out of a bad situation for Mackin, who would have missed the remainder of the season with an ACL but instead will be in line to return towards the end of the year.
“They said I’ll have to spend six weeks in a knee brace and then start rehab from there, so (all going well) probably 8-10 weeks away,” he said.
“The physio said she’s never seen someone do their MCL all the way through like mine and not damage any of the other ligaments, so I was pretty lucky.”
Regardless it is a cruel blow for the 25-year-old, who has long been regarded as the premiere number one in the Rugby League Gold Coast competition.
The knee injury comes after a hamstring strain hampered his chances at an Intrust Super Cup berth with Tweed earlier this year.
“It is disappointing, for sure. I’ve been keen to play all year,” Mackin said.
“But hopefully I can come back at the business end (of the season).”
Until then, Mackin plans to make the most of his lay-off by ticking a longtime personal goal.
“It will let me do some studying for my pilot’s licence,” he said.
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was little and I decided this was the year.”
Coach Nick Gleeson’s replacement options also took a hit, with young gun Tyler Han called into the Tweed U20s squad this weekend.
Winger Queille Murray is also an option to play in the one, though with opposite winger Joseva Latenacolo set to miss this weekend and the club’s outside back stocks limited, it is unlikely.
Tevin Arona looms as the obvious option – he came off the bench against Mudgeeraba in his club debut and replaced Mackin when he went down with the knee injury.
“He usually plays at half but he’s a really good ballplayer,” Mackin said. “I don’t know what Nick is going to do … Tevin is good. He’s quality. He’ll get it sorted out.”
Reigning premiers’ double injury blow sours Round 1 win
STAR Runaway Bay Seagulls fullback Jack Mackin was sent for scans on Monday following fears he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in Sunday’s 32-22 win over Mudgeeraba.
Mackin went down early in the second half and did not return to the field.
Runaway Bay coach Nick Gleeson said scans would reveal the full extent of the damage, however he was not hopeful.
“All reports are it’s not good,” Gleeson said.
If it is a serious ACL injury it’s a devastating blow for the reigning premiers, who will miss arguably the best fullback in the competition for the remainder of the season.
“It’s massive. He’s the best fullback in the comp and has been for a number of years,” Gleeson said.
“You’re not a Queensland Rangers (representative) and two-time grand final winner if you’re not at the top.”
It didn’t get any better for the Seagulls in the second half, with back-rower Andrew Vella breaking two fingers.
“He’s very important to our team,” Gleeson said.
“He would be in our top five players easily. It’s a massive loss for us.
“Considering Luke Burton was called into (Intrust Super Cup) and scored two tries … we could be without both our back-rowers for a few weeks.”
Meanwhile Codey McLaughlin, Burton’s replacement in the back-row, left the field for a head injury assessment in the second half and was unable to return.
Likewise winger Joseva Latenacolo – leaving Runaway Bay without a bench for the final 20 minutes of the match.
“We were on top during that 25-minute to 60-minute mark and then we lost those boys,” Gleeson said.
“Some of our bench players got a lot more minutes than we probably would have liked – I think it will hold us in good stead, though.
“They (Mudgeeraba) were coming at us hard with 20 minutes to go (and our players) grit their teeth and showed how tough they were as footballers.
“In the end I think we were quite lucky to get away with the win.”
‘Writing was on the wall’: RLGC bombshell one week from Round 1
ORMEAU Shearers A-Grade coach Peri Creamer laments a lack of playing numbers and inability to capitalise on a strong 2020 season as the reason the club withdrew its team from the Rugby League Gold Coast competition.
With the season sent to commence on May 8, the Shearers dropped a bombshell on the competition when they confirmed their exit from the A-Grade competition this week.
“The goal for me was to get to Round 1 and see where we were at but, realistically, we knew we’d be playing Round 1 and then telling Rugby League Gold Coast we couldn’t (play anymore),” Creamer said.
“It was better to do it now than later.”
REVEALED: Gold Coast teams for Chairman’s Challenge
Creamer, who was to enter his second year as Ormeau’s A-Grade coach, said he all-but made the decision to withdraw after the second round of pre-season fixtures.
“I saw the writing on the wall after the second trial,” he said.
“We didn’t have enough there to compete as an A-Grade squad for the whole season.
“I spoke to the club about it on Wednesday because we knew the season launch was coming (that night). We couldn’t pretend.”
Creamer joined Ormeau last year and, though the club managed just one win in 2020, were much more competitive than their ladder position showed.
“I thought the 2020 season, with COVID, helped us. I thought we’d turned a corner,” Creamer said.
“We were very competitive. Players came from everywhere to play for us. I really wanted to build on that (this season) but it just wasn’t happening.
“The guys who play for Ormeau are not from Ormeau, so they’ve got to come from out of the area to get to training and stuff.
“We had a solid group there and it was competitive, but it wasn’t enough to be able to compete in A-Grade week-in, week-out.
“It’s disappointing, but I still had a good time with the guys and the club.”
Creamer said his focus had now shifted to coaching the Gold Coast Vikings U20s in this weekend’s Chairman’s Challenge in Brisbane.
“That’s kept me focused and been a bit of a distraction you could say,” he said.
“I’ll get through that and then have a look at what’s next for me.”
The club has also been contacted for comment.
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