NRL 2022: Gold Coast Titans set to sack coach Justin Holbrook after Knights loss
Justin Holbrook has broken his silence on rumours he is facing the axe, insisting he’s the man to lead the Titans, as a review into a failed 2022 season begins.
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A defiant Justin Holbrook insists he will not be sacked as Titans coach and is adamant he is the right man to haul the Gold Coast out of their latest crisis.
The Sunday Mail can reveal the Titans have launched a review into their season from hell amid speculation Holbrook is in danger of being sacked after the Gold Coast’s dreadful 38-12 defeat to Newcastle on Friday night.
The 26-point loss to the lowly Knights thrust the spotlight on Holbrook’s future given the Titans can sack him without a significant payout after inserting performance clauses into his contract, which runs until the end of 2024.
After a drought-breaking finals appearance last year, the Titans have crashed dramatically and are anchored to last spot on the NRL ladder following 11 losses from their past 12 games.
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Gold Coast is the only bottom four club to have not sacked its coach this year after the Bulldogs (Trent Barrett), Tigers (Michael Maguire) and Warriors (Nathan Brown) severed ties with their mentors.
The Titans have only registered three unconvincing wins against the Tigers, Warriors and Dragons in 2022, prompting club hierarchy to warn Holbrook performances must improve if he is to stay at the helm.
While Holbrook accepts the Titans’ slide into the NRL cellar is unacceptable, the 46-year-old believes he is safe at Parkwood and has the coaching experience to resurrect the Gold Coast.
“I haven’t heard a thing from anyone at the club - I am confident I will be coaching the Titans next year,” he said.
“I would like to think with the history I’ve had here, I’ve done enough to keep coaching.
“I honestly don’t know where the rumours (about him being sacked) are coming from.
“The owners (Darryl Kelly and Rebecca Frizelle) have said to me several times they are here to support me and I don’t feel that has changed.
“I am pissed at how we are going. I’m not happy with this at all. I am bitterly disappointed.”
Gold Coast’s shambolic loss to Newcastle was their worst capitulation under Holbrook and Titans bosses will forensically analyse how the club has crashed so dramatically this year.
“We are disappointed with performances,” Titans chairman Dennis Watt said.
“We are reviewing the season and we are looking for a strong finish from here.”
After inheriting a basket case following Garth Brennan’s sacking in 2019, Holbrook took the Titans to ninth in 2020.
He signed Queensland Origin stars Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and David Fifita then secured the Titans’ first finals appearance since 2016 last year, sneaking into eighth spot with a 10-14 record.
But the wheels have fallen off emphatically this season following numerous questionable recruitment decisions and embarrassingly limp defence.
The Titans sacked performance boss Klint Hoare last week but they were outplayed from the opening whistle against Newcastle, proving the club’s problems run deeper than a lack of fitness.
Watt said the Titans were yet to discuss Holbrook’s future, but admitted the club hit a new low in the Knights loss.
“There have been no decisions at all. No-one has spoken. No-one has met. We have no planned meetings or discussions with Justin at the minute,” he said.
“There is definitely a goodwill factor to consider because Justin has had two good seasons here. He took us to the finals last year and that built a lot of hope inside the club and among Titans fans. We have to take that into account.
“The reality is a performance like that was terrible. Things have unravelled this season. Steve Mitchell, our CEO, was down there for the game and it was a disappointing night.
“Fitness and defence are two areas we need to look at. All NRL clubs work hard, but you have to build a reservoir for when you have some tough moments in games.
“We simply need to do better. The fans will cop losses if they see their team having a crack, but they won’t cop losses where there is an apparent lack of effort.”
Holbrook has a history of winning. He had an 80 per cent success rate at St Helens and took the English powerhouse to the 2019 premiership in a performance that convinced the Titans he could spark a Gold Coast resurgence.
The Titans’ finals campaign last season triggered hope Holbrook could edge the Coast closer to a watershed premiership, but the embattled coach admits he has struggled to deliver with an inexperienced spine.
After releasing co-captain and No.1 halfback Jamal Fogarty to Canberra, Holbrook has battled to strike continuity with playmaking quartet Jayden Campbell, Toby Sexton, AJ Brimson and Erin Clark.
We made a lot of changes and went with youth and unfortunately some of our young guys like Jayden Campbell have been injured. The spine we wanted to play with have barely been together on the park.
“I believe I will be there next year. Collectively as a club, we can see where things have gone wrong and what needs to be done to fix it,” he said.
“For myself, it’s hard. At every other club I’ve been at, I’ve always done well and improved the place. I’ve made grand final qualifiers, I’ve won reserve grade and Super League comps and I took the Titans to the finals last year.
“This is the first year things haven’t gone well for me and people want to throw me out after one season.
“I am not shying away from the truth. The region and the fans thought we were on the way up and they feel let down. I feel responsible. It doesn’t sit well with me and it affects everybody in the club.
“But I am working harder than ever and I believe I am the man to get us back up there.”
Asked to explain where the Titans have fallen apart, Holbrook said: “There’s a number of reasons. Inexperience is a major issue. We do have a young spine, in the key positions we are inexperienced and that’s why we have signed Kieran Foran for next season.
“To be honest I thought I had the ability as a coach to get results with such a young spine, but it hasn’t worked out that way.
“We have the nucleus here, but we are lacking confidence and a bit of self-belief. You only have to look at the Broncos and Cowboys with Adam Reynolds and Chad Townsend and what they have done for those clubs.
“Todd Payten (Cowboys coach) was under pressure last year, he made the changes that needed to be made and now he has the Cowboys firing.
“We will have an experienced playmaker in Kieran Foran and I believe that will make a major difference next year.
“I honestly believe we don’t need drastic changes.”
A despondent Holbrook admitted he was lost for answers after the Knight-mare in Newcastle.
“It was awful,” he said.
“We didn’t know what we were doing out there (defence). We’ve got a lot to fix up.”
With a bye next weekend, the Titans have a fortnight to decide whether Holbrook is the man to lead the club into a daunting Queensland derby against the resurgent Brisbane Broncos.
Meanwhile, Jarrod Wallace is facing a two game ban after being sent-off on Friday night.
The Titans prop has been hit with a grade two dangerous throw for his tackle on Newcastle utility Sasagi Simi.
He was sent from the field in the final 10 minutes.
David Klemmer was not charged after being sin-binned for a punch.
PRESSURE MOUNTS ON HOLBROOK AS TITANS HIT NEW LOW
—Travis Meyn
Gold Coast coach Justin Holbrook is under mounting pressure after the Titans sunk to a new low in an embarrassing 38-12 loss to Newcastle on Friday night.
If Holbrook wasn’t already fighting for his job, he must be now after a club record five tries from Knights winger Edrick Lee and a Jarrod Wallace send-off helped Newcastle snap a five-game losing streak at home.
The Titans have now lost 11 of their past 12 games and are anchored to last spot on the NRL ladder – a fry cry from last year’s drought-breaking finals appearance.
After an encouraging 18-10 loss to Cronulla a fortnight ago, the Titans somehow regressed terribly over the representative bye weekend and the blowtorch is firmly on Holbrook amid a catastrophic slide.
The 26-point margin flattered the Titans, who were totally outclassed by a Newcastle team that is far from premiership contention and hadn’t won at home since round 2.
“It was awful,” Holbrook said.
“We didn’t know what we were doing out there (defence). We’ve got a lot to fix up.
“I am (lost for answers) tonight. In the last game we competed hard against the Sharks, then tonight we’re a million miles off. We have to look at the team and who’s running out there.
“There’s been a lot of things (go wrong). We’ve got guys in positions not doing their job well enough for the NRL.
“We’re so disappointed. We’ve got to make a few changes now and get back into it.”
WHAT A KNIGHT-MARE
This was the worst the Titans have played this season as they made 2022 Anthony Milford look like 2015 Anthony Milford in a first half masterclass from the Knights five-eighth.
The Knights became the first team in premiership history to lose five straight games at home by 24 points or more and only scored a total of four tries in 400 minutes.
Against the Titans they bagged five in the first half alone to lead 22-0 at the break, with Tex Hoy’s poor goalkicking (two from six) keeping Gold Coast in the game.
Wingers Lee and Dominic Young scored a hat-trick and double respectively in the opening 40 minutes as the Gold Coast’s limp defence was repeatedly exposed.
When the full-time siren sounded, Lee had a stunning five tries next to his name and Young bagged three.
“Edrick is very popular among the playing group, he always has a smile on his face,” Knights coach Adam O’Brien said.
“I’m really pleased for him. He’s battled with big injuries and a long absence from the game.
“I was really happy with our start. We built the game nicely in the first half. We applied some early pressure and got in the game cycle.
“I’m really pleased for the players. It’s a happy dressing room.”
The Titans sacked performance chief Klint Hoare last week but efforts like this have nothing to do with fitness. It was pure rubbish from the opening whistle.
In typical Titans fashion, Gold Coast mounted a late comeback before Wallace was sent off with 10 to go following a dangerous tackle which prompted a punch in the face from Knights prop David Klemmer.
TIME TO PREPARE FOR 2023
Holbrook keeps saying he hasn’t given up on making the finals this year. Well, now it’s time to accept reality.
If the Titans are going to continue backing their coach they must at least demand he begins preparing for the future because 2022 is officially a write-off.
Holbrook can start by axing Dolphins-bound players Wallace and Jamayne Isaako, who don’t need to audition for contracts.
Wallace has been one of the Titans’ better players this year but Holbrook can invest in the future while Isaako looked like he has never played the game before with his shocking defensive reads that allowed Lee to dominate.
Centre Brian Kelly should have been dropped weeks ago and backrower Sam McIntyre offers little starting ahead of David Fifita, who was impressive with 108m in his return from a knee injury.
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