THE SEASON SUNS AND TITANS FANS WOULD RATHER FORGET
Titans coach could be next for axe amid rumours of player discontent
RODNEY Eade is gone, Neil Henry is on the ropes and Scott Sattler is fuming.
“I’d really be disappointed if the rumours are true that a small portion of the playing group is baying for blood,” the rugby league legend said of speculation Gold Coast Titans coach Henry is at risk of joining the unemployment queue alongside Eade, who has been sacked by AFL’s Suns.
“These decisions should never be player driven but unfortunately we live in a world where a small group of players think they’re bigger than the game and know how to run a club. They should just worry about playing footy.
“A lot of players don’t realise this but coaches are actually smarter than them. If they let the coach simply coach and have trust in them, they’d win more games than they lose but unfortunately it looks like the reverse for the Titans at the moment.”
The Titans knew negative headlines were on the way. NRL clubs don’t lose three in a row these days and not expect intense scrutiny, especially when the most recent loss is a 54-0 hiding to the Broncos.
Then came yesterday’s shock news that Eade had become the first AFL coach to be sacked this season.
“It’s simple – it’s wins and losses,” Gold Coast Suns chairman Tony Cochrane said. “We’re simply in the same position as we were three years ago and that’s not good enough for our board.”
Needless to say, many eyes instinctively turned towards the Titans’ Parkwood HQ.
“What we’ve been trying to do over the last few days is analyse what’s happened in recent weeks and see if we can find a reason and apply some fixes,” Titans chief executive Graham Annesley said. “We want to make considered decisions ... not just kneejerk (ones) because of public pressure.”
Asked about the future of Henry, who has a year to run on his contract, he said: “It’s not appropriate for me to talk about people’s contractual obligations and commitments.
“People automatically jump to the most extreme action (of replacing a coach) … but it can’t be the starting point for any assessment. Those things have to be the endpoint.”
And how is Henry holding up amid headlines such as the Courier Mail calling for Mel-
bourne super coach Craig Bellamy to replace him?
“Coaches are pretty resilient,” Annesley said. “They’re about winning games … and a win or string of wins will put everything back on track. He’s just getting on with the job.”
Henry’s future will ultimately be decided by the Titans Board, which found itself in the news this week when a senior News Corp journalist told Fox Sports viewers it was them – and not their coach – who wanted to sign milliondollar man Jarryd Hayne.
Paul Kent claimed Henry thought it was too much of his salary cap for one player but the Board insisted on signing him for commercial purposes.
It’s not the first time Henry and Hayne’s relationship has had scrutiny, with Annesley saying: “They’re both professionals and I expect them to continue to work together while they’re both at the club.”
For foundation Titan Mat Rogers, any talk of player unrest is a concern for clubs.
“It can get ugly but a lot of the time players don’t want to take responsibility,” he said.
Which leads to some strong advice for the Titans Board.
“Players only have too much power if you let them,” Sattler said. “Boards are smart enough to know if results are coming from greater issues than players are saying … if you let them start driving the issues, your club’s in trouble.”