NRL 2025: Titans coach Des Hasler defends club’s recruitment after losing Josiah Pahulu to Storm
Titans coach Des Hasler has defended the club’s botched recruitment department, after losing their rookie of the year in a $40,000 contract bungle.
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Des Hasler has denied the Titans dudded Gold Coast’s best rookie following the latest recruitment bungle by the wooden spoon favourites.
The 16th-placed Titans this week released Queensland Origin prospect Josiah Pahulu to premiership heavyweights Melbourne following a nine-month contract spat.
Pahulu, 21, refused to re-sign with the Titans after he was dropped for Gold Coast’s final round clash last year, costing him a $40,000 contract bonus for playing 20 NRL games in his debut season.
Titans management attempted to salvage the situation by including the lost money in a contract extension, but the bad blood between Pahulu’s camp and the club ran too deep.
He instead opted to sign with Craig Bellamy’s Storm, the consistent NRL premiership threats who the Titans will host at Cbus Super Stadium on Saturday.
Pahulu will not play for Melbourne against his former club.
A Maroons under-19s Origin front rower in 2022, Pahulu was crowned the Titans’ rookie of the year in 2024 after playing 19 games in the absence of captain Tino Fa’asuamaleaui.
Hasler denied the Titans robbed Pahulu of a deserved bonus and put his departure down to a case of not being able to keep everyone.
“No, we don’t talk retention,” he said when asked if Pahulu was dudded.
“It was always going to be (difficult). It (bonus saga) was well-documented and publicised earlier in the year and we couldn’t reach a resolution.
“Sometimes you can’t keep them all and he chose to move on so we had to let him go.
“Some you win, some you lose. You can’t keep them all.”
Bellamy, arguably the NRL’s best coach of the past 20 years, was ecstatic to snare Pahulu.
“We think he’s got a lot of talent, ability and will add something to our squad,” he said.
“We wouldn’t sign him if we didn’t think he had some upside. He hasn’t played a whole heap of first grade but we think he’ll add depth to our squad and has a big future.
“He seems to be confident in what he can do and I’m sure at some stage in the not-too-distant future he’ll get an opportunity.”
The loss of Pahulu is the latest in a long line of questionable recruitment decisions that have contributed to the Titans staring down the barrel of a fourth straight bottom four finish.
This masthead last month revealed a string of signings that were wasting spots in the club’s top 30 roster with little prospect of playing in the NRL.
The Titans have a lopsided salary cap with the bulk of their money invested in highly-paid forwards Fa’asuamaleaui, Moeaki Fotuaika, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Beau Fermor and David Fifita, who Hasler recently dumped to reserve grade despite his $1 million-a-season salary.
That means the Titans have cut costs in the important playmaking division, with veteran Kieran Foran and fullback-convert Jayden Campbell facing Storm superstars Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes.
Former Gold Coast halfbacks Toby Sexton (Bulldogs) and Jamal Fogarty (Raiders) were released in recent years and have piloted their clubs to the NRL’s top two this season.
The Titans this week re-signed Kiwis fullback Keano Kini on a multimillion-dollar extension until 2030, the same period current No. 1 AJ Brimson is signed for.
A move to five-eighth for Brimson has failed multiple times and fullback is clearly his best position, creating an awkward situation for the long-term signings.
When asked if he was happy with his roster, Hasler said: “The roster is always a beast, chopping and changing.”
The most successful years of the Titans came in their infancy following a 2007 launch, with the club only posting one finals appearance (2021) in the past nine seasons.
Inaugural football manager Scott Sattler helped build a team with x-factor like Scott Prince, Preston Campbell and Mat Rogers alongside workhorses in Luke Bailey, Nathan Friend and Ashley Harrison.
Sattler said the Titans had to get their roster balance right to find NRL success.
“They just have to win and that comes down to recruitment and retention,” he said.
“The one thing we did in the early years was try and build a club that would compete for 80 minutes.
“We showed in the early years at the Titans if you build a successful team, the fans will come. We made a preliminary final (2010) and we had crowds in excess of 20,000 in the early years.
“The supporter base is there but like any team, winning is the most important thing and if the Titans become a regular finals team, the fans will turn out in force.”
‘THAT’S ENOUGH’: THE TITANIC QUESTION HASLER WON’T ANSWER
Titans players have appealed for the club to spare Des Hasler the axe as the under-pressure Gold Coast coach refused to address speculation about his future.
Hasler is in the spotlight heading into Saturday’s showdown with Craig Bellamy’s Storm at Cbus Super Stadium.
The Titans are essentially last on the NRL ladder with just three wins from 10 games nearing the halfway point of the season.
Gold Coast’s defence has once again been atrocious in 2025, with the Titans conceding a league-worst 310 points at 31 per game.
They leaked 656 points (27.3 per game) last year on their way to a third straight bottom-four finish in Hasler’s first season on the Gold Coast.
A two-time NRL title-winning coach with Manly (2008 and 11), Hasler was brought to the Gold Coast to replace Justin Holbrook and inject a hard edge to the perennially soft Titans.
So far, there has been little evidence of that happening.
Hasler, 64, has numerous performance clauses in his contract that give Titans management the power to sack him if the club misses the finals again this year.
Having lost six of their past seven games, the Titans need a miracle to reach the playoffs but captain Tino Fa’asuamaleaui wants the club to show faith in Hasler.
“I hope they do stick with Des,” he said.
“It’s been a tough few years. He is a good coach and for us to go forward we need some consistency in that area.
“Sometimes it’s hard when a club chops and changes, but it’s not my job. I just play for the coach I’ve got and Des has taught me a lot of things.
“It’s Des’ hard work and passion for the team.
“I don’t think there’s a second of the day he’s not thinking of the team. It rubs off on the players and hopefully we can turn it around and get our season going for Des.”
The Titans have been a basket case for much of the club’s 19-season NRL existence.
The glory years of the club were in its infancy following a 2007 launch when the Robina stadium was regularly sold-out and the Titans registered back-to-back top four finishes in 2009-10.
Since then it has been a train wreck with two wooden spoons (2011, 19) and only two finals appearances (2016, 21) in 15 seasons.
The club has only won one finals match (2010) in its history.
Having sacked coaches John Cartwright, Neil Henry, Garth Brennan and Holbrook, Hasler was viewed as the man to finally take the Titans to the Promised Land.
Instead, he is now fighting for his future after just 18 months on the Gold Coast.
“I love Des as a coach and if I could have him there and persist with him I will,” halfback Jayden Campbell said.
“I hope that whoever runs that side (of the club) can see what he’s trying to do with us as a group. I think it’s important to keep building.
“If another coach comes in he might have another whole set of different principles and structures. It’s like starting again from new. It’s really important we stick to the process.
“Des is really passionate and a coach you want to play for. At times I’ve felt really upset because we aren’t getting the results for him.
“I can’t speak for other players, but I love Des as a coach.
“He cares about you as a player and person as well.
“I want him as our coach and I’m sure a lot of the boys feel that way as well.”
The arrival of ‘Cyclone Des’ at a club with a soft underbelly had the potential to be a recipe for disaster and has so far played out that way.
The Titans started last year with a six-game losing streak and ended it with five straight defeats. Hasler has already overseen another five straight losses this season.
Fullback Keano Kini (neck) and backrower David Fifita (ankle), who was dropped by Hasler recently, are now the only players in Gold Coast’s best 17 unavailable for selection.
The excuses for poor performances are starting to run thin.
Staring down the barrel of another failed campaign that potentially costs him his job, Hasler was in no mood to talk about his future.
“We don’t discuss that,” he fired this week.
“That’s enough.”
If Hasler can’t spark something in the coming weeks the trigger-happy Titans administration may end up having enough of him.
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