Titans face more heat following Eels loss
TITANS coach Neil Henry has opened up about the “relentless” scrutiny of the past week after defending his players’ effort in their 30-8 loss to Parramatta last night.
The Titans’ off-field woes are only set to gather further momentum after last night’s loss. Desperate to put a week of turmoil behind them to dim the searing spotlight on the internal ructions that threaten to rip the club apart, the Gold Coast needed at least a courageous loss.
The battered Titans almost managed that given another two players joined Jarryd Hayne on the injury list before kick-off and they lost young centre John Olive to a dislocated elbow inside the first 10 minutes.
But two poor plays in the dying minutes allowed the Eels to score again, with the defeat further increasing the pressure on Henry, whose troops have now lost five successive matches and could drop to 15th on the ladder if the Wests Tigers can upset the Roosters tomorrow.
Henry admitted the scrutiny on himself and the playing group had been relentless following Jarryd Hayne’s declaration last weekend that he would walk if he was unwanted by the coach.
“It’s been pretty relentless. it’s not pleasant,” Henry said if seeing his face plastered over newspapers all week.
“You try to take the heat off the team and the boys.
“I thought, to get all that white noise away ... it’s a credit to them.
“It’s tough and you can try and deflect some of it but it’s hard on not just me, but your family and people that know you.”
Hayne and Henry were called in for talks with club CEO Graham Annesley and chair Rebecca Frizelle on Monday, with the club following up with an emergency board meeting.
But they emerged with no decision, except to say that all options were on the table, including Hayne and Henry – both contracted to the club until the end of 2018 – losing their jobs.
Henry was adamant he had had no indication that last night was not his final match in charge at the Coast.
“I’ve got a job to do to represent the club and get the boys playing the football they can play,” he said.
“Until someone says I’m not (still the coach) ... I’ll get on with that. I’m certainly looking forward to doing that.
“Hopefully it’s not my last game with the club. I’m contracted and I want to stay here.”
Reeling from a shock loss to cellar dwellers Newcastle a week before, the Eels were fighting for a top-four spot and were never going to bow easily.
But the Titans’ job became even more difficult before kick-off when Origin forward Jarrod Wallace and young gun Max King had to pull out with injury.
Within 15 minutes, things were at crisis point, with John Olive (dislocated elbow) and Anthony Don (mouth laceration) off the field and the Titans forced to twice shuffle their backline.
Don returned just over 10 minutes later but damage had already been done, with Tepai Moeroa and Daniel Alvaro scoring to hand Parramatta the 12-0 lead they took to halftime. When utility Will Smith strolled through some poor defence to score, there were ominous signs things could deteriorate as quickly as they did against the Broncos just a fortnight ago.
But the Titans regrouped and were unlucky to have a try awarded against them after Semi Radradra clearly knocked on before he raced to the line in the 54th minute.
The Titans hit back with two tries of their own – to debutant forward Ben Nakubuwai and winger Will Zillman – but undid their hard work with two poor plays in the dying minutes to allow Smith to score his second try in a strong performance.