THIS FOOTY CLUB AIN’T BIG ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US
TITANS SHOWDOWN TODAY AFTER YET ANOTHER FLOGGING
THE Gold Coast Titans have plunged into crisis following explosive revelations coach Neil Henry issued the club an ultimatum to choose between him and Jarryd Hayne.
The $2.4 million Hayne experiment is on the brink of collapse after the enigmatic fullback admitted he would quit the club if Henry did not want him there.
Hayne appears certain to exit and in a dramatic twist Henry is also fighting for his future on the Gold Coast unless he can smooth tensions with influential Titans figures.
Henry and Hayne will be summoned to meetings with club powerbrokers today in an attempt to bring an end to the drama.
Henry did not return calls yesterday while Titans chief executive Graham Annesley declined to comment.
A News Corp investigation has uncovered the extent of the Hayne-Henry feud, revealing anger, mistrust and lack of faith within the NRL club which has seen the Titans plummet into wooden spoon contention.
Multiple sources have verified a frustrated Henry claimed the Titans must choose between him and Hayne during a fiery meeting with club hierarchy recently.
Other revelations include:
● Titans management attempted to mediate the Henry-Hayne time bomb without success, prompting the coach to issue the ultimatum.
● Henry’s reluctance to deny reports he was against signing Hayne has riled Titans powerbrokers who had publicly asserted the coach was involved throughout the process.
● Halfback Ashley Taylor is monitoring the coaching situation. Taylor is reluctant to commit to the Titans longterm while uncertainty is swirling around the club.
● Henry’s relationship with some players has crumbled over contract negotiations. The Titans do not have a recruitment manager for their NRL squad and the coach has put some players off-side by personally informing them of their worth to the club.
● A group of players met secretly following the recent loss to the Wests Tigers to discuss Henry’s coaching.
Hayne, 29, declared on Saturday he would walk out on his $1.2 million deal next season if asked.
Hayne’s management would be unlikely to forfeit a guaranteed salary for 2018 without having another option secured.
In the space of a year Hayne’s high-profile signing has descended into one of the Titans’ worst ever decisions.
FORMER Origin forward and Gold Coast player Kevin Campion has called on Neil Henry to drop Jarryd Hayne to reserve grade for the remainder of the season, calling the superstar “uncoachable”.
Hayne and Henry have been called into crisis meetings with club bosses today to discuss their relationship, described in a club press release as a “demoralising” distraction to the playing group, members, sponsors and supporters.
Should both emerge from the meeting with their contracts intact, Campion has called on Henry to drop Hayne to the Queensland Cup for the remainder of the NRL season.
“If they are both here, Neil needs to lay down the law and show who’s boss and he needs to make some big calls,” said Campion, who played for the Gold Coast Seagulls and was coached by Henry at the North Queensland Cowboys when the now-Titans mentor was an assistant.
“Even if he dropped him for the next couple of weeks, you would drop him just to give him a wake-up call – I would anyway.
“It needs to be done because … Neil needs to make some decisions, mainly to help himself.”
Former Titans assistant coach Trevor Gillmeister said it was sad to see the relation-
ship between Henry and Hayne sour publicly.
But he hopes the situation can be mediated and both men can stay at the club.
“I hope they can work it out,” Gillmeister said.
“But it’s always tough when you’ve got one bloke that earns a lot more money than the rest of them.
“That’s always fraught with danger, I think. That puts a lot of pressure on him every week – the bloke that’s getting the big piece of the pie and the others are getting the crumbs.
“You’ve got to probably expect a bit of backlash if you’re not playing all right.”
Campion said that if the Titans retained Hayne over Henry they were bowing the player pressure and reinforcing a poor culture at the club. “There’s some players that are just uncoachable,” Campion said.
“And the situation with Jarryd Hayne is that he’s been the best player and he was outstanding at Parramatta but he just hasn’t performed with the money that he is on at the Titans.
“I just don’t think he’s the right person for the club. I don’t think his heart’s in rugby league. I don’t think he’s that passionate about it.”
While today’s meeting may prove the end for Henry, or Hayne, or both, Campion hoped the coach would stay.
“It could be too far gone. But I hope they keep (Henry),” he said.
“Jarryd’s not good for the club. The culture is really poor. The sad thing about it is five weeks ago they were on a roll, they were winning and it’s how things turn around.”
Winning can fix most things but if just papered over, the cracks would reappear soon enough, Campion said.
“It’s always going to rear its head when you get beaten by 50,” he said.