Brennan wants a balance

TITANS coach Garth Brennan is adamant the signing of hulking forward Shannon Boyd will be no impediment to the continuing development of rising star Moeaki Fotuaika.

The addition of Boyd in the same week the club re-signed Origin prop Jarrod Wallace could be interpreted as a blow to Fotuaika, the 18-year-old who made his debut against Canberra three weeks ago and is already being hailed as a top performer.

But Brennan is committed to developing the club’s young talent in a bid to ensure the Titans’ best players want to make the Gold Coast their home.

“When you bring in the likes of Shannon Boyd, who’s only 25 and has played for Australia, it’s going to help some of our young guys,” Brennan said.

“It certainly doesn’t stop their progress – if anything, it helps it. I’ve come through clubs where you develop young players and you throw them into NRL (but) you’ve got to have a good support network around them.

“That was why I was very reluctant to throw AJ (Brimson, who debuted against Melbourne last week) in before his time and why I held Moe (Fotuaika) back.

“It’s hard to throw young guys into a side that’s being dominated and beaten. You’ve seen the clubs over the years that have tried to rush kids into a side that’s getting beaten and pumped pretty heavily, it’s not good for their development.

“You need ... some experienced players around them to help them with their off-field stuff and teach them how to prepare properly for a game, so it’s a bit of an education thing.

“It’s certainly not to block their pathways.”

Fotuaika will again come off the bench against Newcastle on the Gold Coast today and Bryce Cartwright is likely to come into the team, with Kevin Proctor failing a fitness test on his injured groin.

Brennan said Cartwright deserved a chance to redeem himself after facing searing criticism of his commitment and performance over the past week. — Emma Greenwood