The Gold Coast Titans journey from the top to the bottom
FIVE years ago, the Titans were ruing a missed opportunity at a maiden NRL title. Now, they’re anchored to the bottom of the ladder. What happened?
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YOU have no idea how close we came to living in a world where the Gold Coast Titans were NRL champions.
In 2010, the competition’s newest club was damn close to a premiership. Not close enough to start ordering the cheap “Gold Coast Titans: NRL Premiers 2010” t-shirts, but close enough to make some discreet inquiries.
After finishing third in the regular season in 2009 the Titans were bounced from the finals by Jarryd Hayne and the Haynettes in a 29-2 drubbing that became a footnote in the Eels miraculous run to the grand final.
But in 2010, things were different.
Over the course of the season, the Titans beat every other top eight side at least once. They beat the eventual grand final qualifying Roosters three weeks out from the finals and downed the third placed Tigers in their last home and away season.
Most crucially, they were one of the few teams to get the better of the eventual premiers, St George Illawarra, and they did so in a grim, 11-10 golden point struggle at a wet Oki Jubilee Oval. They out-Dragoned the eventual premiers and beat them at their own game.
Scott Prince was making a serious run at the title of Best Halfback in Rugby League. Melbourne Storm’s absence meant the comp was wide open. Mat Rogers took a trip to the fountain of youth and produced his best season in years. Luke Bailey, Anthony Laffranchi, Nathan Friend, Mark Minichiello and Greg Bird headed up a ruthless forward pack and Preston Campbell was hanging around and doing Preston Campbell things.
After disposing of the Warriors in the first week of the finals, they earned a preliminary final showdown with the Roosters at a full to the brim Suncorp Stadium. They were unlucky to trail 12-6 at halftime before the occasion got the better of them.
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A horror show of a second half, punctuated by a series of errors from Will Zillman (who was man of the match in the win over the Warriors) saw the dream of a title disappear under a sea of red, white and blue tries as they went down 32-6.
What’s followed since has been a compendium of poor fortune, poor decisions and poor performances. From the brink of a premiership, the club has lurched from one disaster to the next as their very existence has been called into question. Following on from the signing of former Origin backrower Chris McQueen the Titans are again in the midst of a rebuild. We trace every step from their taste of glory to current struggles.
2011 — It all falls apart
With essentially the same squad, the Titans crash to the wooden spoon on the back of a horrific injury toll. At the end of the season Preston Campbell, Mat Rogers, Brad Meyers and Clinton Toopi all retire and Joe Tomane leaves for rugby after falling out of favour and out of first grade. Anthony Laffranchi leaves for St Helens. The club signs Nate Myles, Beau Champion and Luke Douglas, completing their biggest recruitment drive since they entered the competition in 2007.
March 3rd 2012 — Idris stars in maiden outing
Big money signing Jamal Idris scores a double on debut against the Cowboys in an 18-0 victory.
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April 14th 2012 — Sezer debuts
Aidan Sezer, a Lakemba junior who joined the club from the Bulldogs, scores a try on debut against Manly.
2012 — The First Rebuild
The club finishes 11th with a 10-14 record and are generally competitive throughout the season. Highlights include a 25-14 win over the minor premiership bound Canterbury and a 26-14 win over Manly early in the season.
Champion, having struggled in his only season with the club, moves Souths to join the Rabbitohs. Recruited to add some strike out wide, the then New South Wales Origin hopeful scored four tries in nine matches.
March 18th 2012 — Titans roll the dice with Dave
The club signs enigmatic forward Dave Taylor from South Sydney on a four-year deal.
May 24th 2012 — Bodene bids farewell
Bodene Thompson, one of the few home grown juniors to come through the Titans Under 20s system, leaves the club for the Tigers.
October 31st 2012 — Assassinating the Prince
The club drops a bombshell by releasing foundation skipper Scott Prince. The best player in the club’s history and the heart and soul of the 2009-10 playoff teams, Prince was shopped to English Super League side Hull FC, but ended up joining local rivals Brisbane. The club had unsuccessfully tried to sign Melbourne halfback Cooper Cronk earlier that season.
Since the club’s inception Prince had not only been their most accomplished player but also the highest profile and most visible. In 2014 the club is fined $300,000 and docked four competition points (the points penalty was suspended for two years) for salary cap breaches related to Prince’s time at the club. Greg Bird and Nate Myles are named co-captains.
November 7th 2012 — Kelly signs
Troubled five-eighth Albert Kelly, who had earlier been let go by Parramatta, Cronulla and Newcastle, joins the club.
2013 — Signs of life
Kelly and Sezer strike up an instant combination, with the speed and instinct of Kelly contrasting beautifully with Sezer’s high level organisation, passing and kicking game. Their rise makes the departure of Prince a little easier to swallow and the pair seem like a dynamic halves combination of the future. Kevin Gordon scores a club record 15 tries and Greg Bird has his best season since 2010. The club is in the top four for much of the season and were in 5th place as late as Round 15 they were in 5th place after going 8-6 in their first 14 matches. A 46-16 defeat to Newcastle, where the Titans trailed 36-0 at halftime, precipitates a collapse but the club remains in finals contention until the final week of the regular season. They defeated the premiership bound Sydney Roosters in Round 25 but lost to the Storm in golden point in Round 26 to finish 9th. The year is almost devoid of scandal, and the future looks bright.
January 7 2014 — Jamal jumps ship
Idris leaves the club for Penrith. After originally signing for five seasons, Idris stayed for three and played 35 games and scored nine tries. In return, the Titans get veteran centre Brad Tighe, who has scored four tries in 14 matches since.
Season 2014 — Injuries again
The Titans win six of their first eight matches to sit comfortably in the top four. At one stage, after winning five of their first six, they stay on top of the ladder for back to back weeks. Things fall apart after a 40-18 loss to the Rabbitohs. After that match Kelly plays only three more games for the season and Sezer plays just six. The club goes 3-13 in their final 16 matches and have two six game losing streaks. Tenacious backrower Paul Carter makes his debut in Round 1 and looks a promising prospect. Club stalwart Ashley Harrison retires, as does inaugural co-captain Luke Bailey. Bailey and Mark Minichiello, who leaves for England, are the last players from the club’s foundation season.
March 22nd, 2014 — Jimmy jets north
The club signs troubled centre James Roberts, who had recently been released by the Panthers.
August 5th 2014 — Good night Cartwright
Foundation coach John Cartwright quits, handing the reigns over the Neil Henry for the remainder of the season. Cartwright finished with a record of 86-100.
October 28th 2014 — Kelly heads to Hull
Kelly leaves the club to join English side Hull KR in unexplained circumstances. The club released Kelly and centre Maurice Blair six months after re-signing Kelly to a one-year contract extension. One of the few budding stars on the Coast, Kelly had become a crowd favourite with his exciting style of play and penchant for long range intercept tries.
December 11th, 2014 — Bird’s wings are clipped
Bird is stripped of the captaincy after he was charged with public urination in an incident following his wedding.
December 19th 2014 — Carter shown the door
Carter is sacked for drink driving and joins the Rabbitohs.
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February 22nd 2015 — Cocaine crisis brings club to its knees
The club is thrown into disarray by news that Bird, Taylor, Kalifa Faifai Loa, Beau Falloon and Jamie Dowling will all be charged with supplying cocaine, along with former skipper Harrison and former lower grader Joe Vickery. All five are stood down, but are reinstated shortly following the start of the season. Bird, Faifai Loa, Harrison and Falloon have the charges dismissed in October, but Taylor, Dowling and Vickery will all face trial. Bird is the only player charged who is still with the club.
March 6th 2015 — The DCEcision
After a lengthy courting process, the club signs Daly Cherry-Evans on a four-year deal from 2016 worth $1 million a season. He reneges on the deal on June 3rd to sign a so-called lifetime deal with the Sea Eagles.
April 10th 2015 — Et tu Sezer?
Aidan Sezer leaves the club for the Canberra Raiders.
April 28th 2015 — Elgey, life’s good
Kane Elgey, the 2014 Under 20s player of the year, re-signs with the Titans for two years, ending speculation that he was set to join a Sydney club.
The club is currently betting big that Elgey can be a transcendent, franchise player and the highly promising halfback is already one of the best home grown products in the Titans history.
From 2010 onwards, the Titans had 20 players make their first grade debut for the club. These players are as follows — Ryan James, Ben Ridge, Brenton Lawrence, Dominique Peyroux, Matt Srama, Jamie Dowling, Aidan Sezer, Anthony Don, Shane Gray, Jahrome Hughes, Hymel Hunt, Mark Ioane, Sam Irwin, Caleb Binge, Paul Carter, Tom Kingston, Cody Nelson, Kane Elgey, Leva Li and Nathaniel Peteru.
Those players have played a combined 437 matches for the club, with each player averaging 21.85 appearances. The only players to come through the Titans system in the last five years who have played more than 50 games for the club are Ryan James (68) and the recently retired Ben Ridge (58). The retirement of Ridge and the departure of Aidan Sezer means that just six of the 20 (James, Matt Srama, Anthony Don, Kane Elgey, Leva Li and Nathaniel Peteru) are still with the club and half of those players made their debut in 2015.
May 12th 2015 — Myles away
Myles, who had reportedly played a significant role in getting Cherry-Evans to join the club, signs with Manly for 2016
Bird, Zillman, Shannon Walker, Mead, James only players left from finals run, Mead, Friend, Bird, Zillman only regular contributors from that team who remain at the club.
August 4th 2015 — The Coal train leaves the station
Taylor departs the club for Super League side the Catalans Dragons.
September 5th 2015 — The annus horribilis mercifully ends
The club misses the finals for the fifth year in a row and crash to a 42-12 loss to the Cowboys in their final match of the season. Bird, Zillman, James and David Mead are the last players left from the 2010 playoff side, along with returning duo Shannon Walker and Nathan Friend, with Friend, Mead, Bird and Zillman the sole regular contributors remaining from that team.
December 8th 2015 — Run Roberts run
Roberts, the 2015 Dally M Centre of the Year and one of the few true stars on the Gold Coast, leaves the club after re-signing earlier in the year. A staffer had forged Roberts’ signature on a contract, rendering him a free agent. He signs with Brisbane shortly before Christmas.
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Some of the Titans struggles have been beyond control. However, much of it has been by their own design. One signing can’t fix their woes — although DCE would have helped and McQueen is nothing to sneeze at — but the Titans fall from the precipice of a premiership has been nothing short of stunning.
At almost every turn, every choice they’ve made has been rendered the wrong one by virtue of bad luck or poor management. Even when they’ve made astute moves, like the recruitment of Roberts, Sezer and Paul Carter, it’s blown up in their face.
Neil Henry has made some encouraging moves since he took over the club towards the end of 2014 and the loss of Cherry-Evans was beyond his control, but he’s trying overcome a half-decade of futility that is close to unmatched in recent NRL history.
The cause is not without hope — Elgey is one of the most promising players in the game, Kierran Moselely could be anything, there’s big wraps on Ashley Taylor and Douglas, Bird, McQueen and David Shillington form a pretty good forward pack, but the road back to the top seems to be a very long one for the Gold Coast.
Originally published as The Gold Coast Titans journey from the top to the bottom
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