Gold Coast Titans under immense pressure to nail coach Des Hasler’s successor following appointments of NRL rivals

The likes of Cameron Ciraldo, Andrew Webster and Kristian Woolf have all been successful in the coach’s spotlight, heaping the pressure on the Titans to get their next appointment right after three consecutive failures.

The Gold Coast Titans are under immense pressure to nail the club’s next coaching appointment following three consecutive failures and the success of their NRL rivals.

Coach Des Hasler is expected to depart the Titans in the coming months following a terrible two-season reign at the helm of Gold Coast.

Hasler was brought to the Titans at the expense of Justin Holbrook, who was abruptly sacked in June 2023, to inject a hard edge into a perennially soft team.

Instead he will exit without getting remotely close to the NRL finals in two seasons and potentially leave the Titans with the club’s third wooden spoon.

If the Titans were based in Sydney they would be getting roasted relentlessly in the media and this is a rare occasion where Gold Coast’s lack of relevancy is a positive for those in charge of the club.

‘Project Hasler’ could not have gone any worse and continues a trend of the Titans bungling the club’s most important appointment – the head coach.

Des Hasler’s Titans tenure is expected to come to an end soon. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Hasler follows Holbrook and Garth Brennan in the failed Gold Coast coach experiments that should thrust the spotlight on the club’s management and decision-makers.

Immortal Mal Meninga recently questioned whether the Titans had enough footy nous in the boardroom to create a successful NRL club.

Based on recent evidence, the answer is no.

The powerbrokers that appointed Brennan (30 per cent winning record), Holbrook (38 per cent) and Hasler (30 per cent) are now getting ready to have a fourth crack.

After three failures the question must be asked if they should hand the decision to someone else or consider the problem with the Titans may lie deeper than the head coach.

Apart from Benji Marshall trying to prove himself at the Wests Tigers, most clubs that have changed coaches in recent years have nailed the appointments.

Look at Cameron Ciraldo at the Bulldogs and Andrew Webster at the Warriors, who was plucked from relative obscurity to take on one of the NRL’s most challenging jobs.

Cameron Ciraldo. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

Andrew Webster. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

The Dolphins have improved since NRL rookie Kristian Woolf took over from the game’s most successful coach in Wayne Bennett, despite having a much deeper injury crisis than the Titans.

Michael Maguire has got the Broncos on the rise since Kevin Walters was shown the door last year.

The Titans have one of the most stable front offices in the NRL that has seen minimal turnover during a decade of mediocrity.

Owner Rebecca Frizelle was appointed chair in 2014 and took ownership of the club in 2017, the same year Dennis Watt joined as chairman from the Broncos.

Des Hasler alongside owner Rebecca Frizelle. Picture: Portia Large

Steve Mitchell replaced Graham Annesley as CEO in 2018, sacked Brennan the next year and signed Holbrook before leading the clandestine operation to replace him with Hasler.

Football boss Anthony Laffranchi has been in the job for a decade and white knight Darryl Kelly, who last week sold his share of the club to the Frizelles, remains on the board after saving the Titans for the first time in 2012.

Those in charge are well-intentioned but a change of ownership should bring a shake-up of the front office if the Titans are genuine about wanting to bring NRL premiership success to the Gold Coast.

The Titans have already started assessing coaching candidates to replace Hasler and canvassing opinions of those in the game. They will have no shortage of options.

The challenge for them is to do what the Bulldogs, Warriors and Dolphins have done – get it right.

Fourth time lucky, perhaps?