Titans’ staggering list of lost talent exposes flawed pathways, Des Hasler urged to walk away from club

In the ultimate black eye for the Titans, the halfbacks of the NRL’s current top three teams were all Gold Coast juniors. See the startling list NRL stars that the Titans let slip through their fingers.

Des Hasler has been urged to step down immediately from the “absolute rabble” Titans as Immortal Mal Meninga turned the blowtorch on Gold Coast’s powerbrokers.

Hasler is under immense pressure heading into Sunday’s showdown with the battling Cowboys at Cbus Super Stadium.

The Titans are outright last on the NRL ladder and staring at a third wooden spoon and second in six years.

The club is on track for a fourth straight finish in the NRL’s bottom four, raising serious questions about its management, board and ownership, which has been in control for eight years.

Hasler, 64, is in the firing line and there have been suggestions the two-time NRL premiership-winning coach will depart the club at season’s end.

A performance clause in Hasler’s three-year contract gives the Titans the power to sack the veteran coach if the club cannot make the top eight this season.

If Hasler is planning to depart, or Gold Coast has resolved to sack him, he has been urged to walk away now and allow the Titans to move on to a new era.

Titans coach Des Hasler has been urged to walk away from the club now if he is planning on leaving at the end of the year. Picture: Getty Images

“They are a rabble, an absolute rabble,” said ex-Maroons forward Corey Parker.

“We’re hearing that Des Hasler could retire or walk away. If that is the case, well just pull the trigger now, there’s no upside to having him there now.

“The only people that really know for sure what he is doing is Des and the owners of the Titans.

“They are in all sorts of trouble.”

The Titans have been the NRL’s problem child for much of the club’s 19-season existence.

The NRL was forced to take charge of the franchise in 2015 following a drugs scandal to save it from crumbling and handed control to co-owners Darryl Kelly and Rebecca Frizelle in 2017.

Despite yearly promises of success and Churchillian-style speeches at season launches, the Titans have been simply making up the numbers in the NRL.

The club has not won a finals match since 2010 and only finished in the top eight twice (2016, 21) in that period, bowing out in week one of the play-offs both times.

They are on track for a third wooden spoon to add to the 2011 and 2019 pieces of timberware they have to show for two decades of mediocrity.

Meninga spent five years with the Titans in high performance and culture consultancy roles before departing in 2023 after he was frozen out of the decision to sack coach Justin Holbrook in favour of Hasler.

The former Kangaroos and Queensland Origin coach, who has taken charge of expansion club Perth Bears, said those in charge at the Titans were well-intentioned but lacked football nous in the boardroom.

“I haven’t been in the organisation for a couple of years but they’re a great group of people, great fans of the game and they love the game of rugby league,” Meninga told SEN.

“They will always make decisions in the best interests of the club. At times you have to make tough decisions and they have to come from the people in the organisation who understand the game very well.

“That’s the thing I feel. You need all these other skill sets to run a club but you need an in-depth understanding of the game so you can actually make decisions around the on-field performance and training performances.

“They probably haven’t got that skillset, but they do their best.”

Will the Titans claim their third wooden spoon in 2025? Picture: Getty Images

The Titans have made few changes to their front office since the appointment of Steve Mitchell as CEO in late 2018.

Replacing the respected Graham Annesley, Mitchell collected the 2019 spoon in his first season in charge, which culminated in the sacking of coach Garth Brennan and appointment of Holbrook.

Mitchell and chairman Dennis Watt, appointed in 2017 after leaving the Broncos, led the clandestine operation to dump Holbrook midway through the 2023 season, when the Titans were sitting ninth, and appointed Hasler.

After nearly two seasons in charge, Hasler has a miserly 34 per cent winning record with the team seemingly regressing under him.

Mitchell did not return calls or text messages from this masthead and had his spin doctor deny a request for comment.

Parker said Mitchell ghosted him following a meeting and the Titans’ problems were systemic.

“I actually had a meeting with the Titans a couple of years ago,” he said.

“I was looking at potentially going down there from a coaching point of view. I sat with Steve Mitchell and Steve asked my thoughts and what I was thinking and feeling.

“I spoke honestly, as I do. It was a good meeting, but I never heard back from him. Crickets. Zero.

“It’s a bit of everything with that club. Look at the Dolphins, they have been decimated by injury, they have players filling roles but they are finding a way to win and are one of the hottest teams in the comp.

“You have to look at the Titans culture. They need to look at recruitment and where they are putting their money.

“I honestly believe a Gold Coast team can work in the region. I remember playing against them in the finals (2009) and the style of football back then was totally different to how they play now.

“They were gritty and competitive. They have the talent to challenge for the finals, but they need a hooker and halfback.”

The Kelly and Frizelle families released a bizarre statement before the Titans were hammered 44-14 by Brisbane a fortnight ago, declaring Hasler would remain as coach until the end of 2026.

That would be unlikely given the performance clauses in Hasler’s contract and if the team continues its current form, which has yielded only two wins from their past 11 games.

Despite the club’s history, there will be no shortage of contenders vying to become the next coach of the Titans and Parker said the answer could lie within given they have never had a Queenslander in charge.

“There’s a stack of them ready to put their hand up,” he said.

“I know there seems to be a push for Kevin Walters and there’s guys like Josh Hannay and Jason Demetriou. They could do the job.

“Does it need to be a Queenslander? I think it should be.

“I like Jim Lenihan (assistant coach). For some reason, clubs are reluctant to put in a guy who doesn’t have a high profile, but I think Lenihan has the goods. How can he ever get a profile if he doesn’t get a chance?

“If the chat is true about Des, the Titans could make a call and do it now and they don’t lose anything if Lenihan gets the job as caretaker for the final 10 rounds.

“They might come to the realisation in 10 weeks’ time that Lenihan can do the job, and if he can’t, then they can get someone else.”

Originally published as Titans’ staggering list of lost talent exposes flawed pathways, Des Hasler urged to walk away from club