What Goes Down, Must Come Up: Titans Dribbler sees Light after a Dark Decade
by The Catholic Dribbler
Ever since their inception in 2007, the Gold Coast Titans have always seemed to be stuck in a shopping spree, always opting to rummage through the open market instead of bothering to develop the next crop of talent coming out of a catchment area which stretches from Coffs Harbour all the way up to Logan. Well, punters and dribblers, times are a changin. With the Titans already boasting around 12 locals in their top 30 squad and joining forces with some of the most powerful rugby league schools in the country. But before we begin to look into that shiny crystal ball, let’s go through the highs and lows of our checkered past.
The Titans introduction to the competition 15 years ago was questioned by many people due to Gold Coast being a rugby league graveyard in the past, however, a solid batch of inaugural signings made even the most avid haters raise an eyebrow. Players such as 2005 premiership winners, Scott Prince and Anthony Lafranchi as well as 2003 Dally M medal winner, Preston Campbell, and Matt Rogers, son of Cronulla legend Steve Rogers, the Titans had the initial makings of a premiership winning club. Add in Blues representative and former DMC Dragon, Luke Bailey, and up and coming Melbourne Storm hooker Nathan Friend, as well as other household names such as Mark Minichello, Chris Walker of State of Origin “Walkers on” fame and Ashley Harrison, the Titans set up a side that would challenge for the premiership very early on, finishing 3rd in 2009 only to be knocked out in straight finals matches, and a 4th placed finish in 2010 losing galiantly to the Roosters in the preliminary final.
But it would all come crashing down when the majority of said players ran for the hills, and we had no one to come through and cover those pivotal positions, this fall from grace wouldn’t take long with the club claiming the wooden spoon the next season. 4 years of bottom 8 agony would follow, with many questionable signings and frustrating defeats. But, if it wasn’t for the Greg Bird of Glassing his wife fame, Nate Myles of getting his head punched in by Paul Gallen fame and Luke Douglas of most consecutive NRL games fame, the Titans probably would’ve found themselves in 16th position on more than the 1 occasion.
Jamal Idris played 35 games for the club scoring 9 tries and absolutely no memorable appearances. The hype was, in my opinion, well over the top for Jamal and it could be argued that he received his 1 and only NSW jumper based off yarn and narrative itself. David Taylor, well, where do I start? 58 Appearances for the club and 15 tries seems like pretty decent stats and you might ask what flaws I can find in his time with the club, to that I say, find a picture of the man in his debut season for the Broncos (2006), and then also find a picture of him when he joined the Titans. I don’t know what sort of diet they had him on at South Sydney but he was, as us cultured beings like to say, an ultimate ressie. And ultimates just aren’t built for week to week first-grade footy. Yeah he did some good stuff over his 3 years at the club, but honestly, for most Titans fans, it was a waiting game, waiting for him to leave or retire so we could spend the money elsewhere.
James Roberts was looking good, winning Dally M centre of the year in 2015. He was re-signed on a 3 year deal with the club until the news broke that his manager had allegedly forged Roberts’ signature onto the contract which meant it was basically a load of shit and he decided to sign with the Broncos instead. This signing always will be a “what could’ve been” for Titans fans. Along with a host of shit signings over this time, the club decided to get us back on the map by signing one of the biggest names in rugby league, Jarryd Hayne. Now don’t get me wrong, on his day, one of the best in the world, but the bloke hadn’t played first-grade rugby league in over 2 years. He was never going to be the same, and yeah he attracted plenty of fans for a couple of months, but when they realised he wasn’t going to do anything special they dropped off real quick. I can’t think of any memorable moments apart from the field goal at Campbeltown, a ground he’d never played at before and screamed “this is my house”. I wonder if he’s staked that claim at Cooma Correctional Centre yet?
Jahrome Hughes and Hymel Hunt both played one game for the club before enjoying successful careers elsewhere. Meanwhile, Aidan Sezer and Jordan Rapana both debuted for the Titans and showed too much promise, leading them to be snapped up by the Raiders. Imagine wanting to leave the Gold Coast for Canberra. Something must be wrong. Kevin Proctor and Brian Kelly were exciting juniors in the Gold Coast region, but were shipped off to Melbourne and Manly respectively, where they had some of the best years of their career, before returning home in average form. Other notable mentions in the category include Payne Haas, Reece Robson, Luke Garner and Jai Arrow.
Keebra Park illumi, Reece Robson, grew up in Murwillumbah, 20 minutes south of tweed heads. Luke Garner, another Palm Beach product, Jai Arrow, came from burleigh heads, signed with brisbane, came home, now he’s gone again, the list goes on.
Anyway, we now have a squad now that is glittering with local juniors, AJ, BK, Marzhew, Sexton, Fogarty, KP, etc. But the most encouraging signs to come out of our club in recent years is the effort put into their junior pathways. Being a Northern Rivers boy myself, I have grown up watching talented players from Tweed to Grafton, get lost to a broken system, ending up in Sydney, and flopping on the big stage. Shouldn’t these guys get the opportunity to play locally? Well they finally can. Over the last few years the Titans have joined forces with Group 18 and Group 1 Junior Rugby League as well as the NRRRL competition (northern rivers regional rugby league) to convert their rep sides from the East Coast Dolphins to the Northern Rivers Titans.
I could name you 10 young fellas off the top of my head that could be wearing Titans colours in 2-3 years time and will be absolutely killing it. Lads that have been playing together since under sixes. It’s a long wait, geez, Penrith had to wait 10 years for Gus’ 5 year plan to bear fruit, I can tell you that the same success that those guys have, it’s coming North very very soon. The Titans are on the rise to becoming the next competition power house and you heard it here first, the 2023 Premiers. Remember punters and dribbles, what goes down, must always come up.
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