Clash set for bloody final scene
COME FLY WITH ME
FORGET Game of Thrones.
If you want political alliances, power struggles and inevitable bloodshed, nothing compares to a coaching assassination a la the one that continues to gather momentum inside the walls of the Gold Coast Titans.
Or, as Scott Sattler witnessed with his own eyes, at Penrith Park in 2001.
“It really ripped the club apart,” the former Panther recalled of the player revolt that claimed the scalp of coach and club legend Royce Simmons.
“We had a small playing group who decided to create a mutiny and it split the club down the middle. There was a lot of hurt in the community and a lot of people were collateral damage and roadkill.” Sound familiar? Titans supremos are putting on a brave face but make no mistake — these are dark times for a club that’s known plenty of them in 10 short years.
Yesterday was meant to be the day the Titans’ latest drama reached a crescendo.
The club’s biggest ever signing had declared he would walk if the coach didn’t want him. The coach had failed to give the club’s biggest ever signing the cuddle he seems to so desperately want.
Neil Henry and Jarryd Hayne met with club bosses. Those club bosses met with the board. The board then chose to hold off firing the bullet so many insiders believe is needed to break what is starting to resemble a circus.
“Having a board meeting for three hours is really not enough time to consider all the facts when we don’t have all the information we may require,” Titans chairwoman Rebecca Frizelle said. “We’re talking about people’s livelihoods and careers so we won’t be rushed into a decision.”
Within an hour of saying those words, reports emerged that Henry was set to be axed, along with suggestions there had been conflict and disagreements with other stars, including boom halfback Ash Taylor.
And if that scenario is true, at least one former Titan can’t see Henry hanging at Parkwood in 2018.
“If Anthony Don or Will Zillman had their nose out of joint because of Neil Henry, a coach can live with that,” Chris Walker said.
“But if Jarryd has the support of the club’s biggest players, there’s only one outcome.”
Which brings us back to Penrith in 2001 and the scene that greeted Sattler when he turned up for weights one day.
“I don’t know if this is happening at the Titans but we had a small group who thought we needed a change in coaching, that the place was stale, and they tried to recruit numbers,” he said.
“I remember turning up for training and hardly anyone was in the gym. I asked one of the staff where everyone was and he said ‘On the back oval’.
“We looked out there and there were eight to 10 of them in a circle talking about the coach when they should have been training.
“One day I confronted one of the players in our team kitchen and said ‘What’s happening isn’t right’. That’s when I felt the playing group really splintering.
“Our board actually sat the entire playing group — 28 players — down in a room and individually asked everyone for their opinion on the coach.” Sound familiar? That’s right — a week ago reports emerged Titans chief executive Graham Annesley had met with 12 players to discuss Henry’s performance following the club’s humiliating 54-0 loss to the Broncos.
“I saw (winger) Anthony Don say there were some informal discussions (about Henry),” Sattler said.
“Well, those talks are never informal and if you have a playing group that’s given the right to make decisions about the operations of the club, the club’s in turmoil.”
While Annesley would never say the “turmoil” word, he yesterday conceded: “The club is hurting at the moment.”
Sadly more hurt seems inevitable and while Henry looks like wearing the worst of that pain, Sattler is mindful of the wider fallout destined to follow this clash of the Titans.
“This is about more than the relationship between Neil Henry and Jarryd Hayne,” he said.
“It’s about how the club salvages credibility in the Gold Coast Titans when they want to recruit key players … it’s about making them believe in the future of the club.”
IF A PLAYING GROUP IS GIVEN THE RIGHT TO MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT THE OPERATIONS OF THE CLUB, (IT’S) IN TURMOIL SCOTT SATTLER