THE EAGLE HAS LANDED
LAWRENCE BACK AT TITANS:
BRENTON Lawrence may have signed to make his Titans return under coach Neil Henry but there’s little doubt he’ll fit right in with new mentor Garth Brennan.
Like Brennan, Lawrence – who returns to the Titans for 2018 after five years at Manly – refuses to waste energy on things he cannot control.
As reports last week Jarryd Hayne wanted out of the Titans led to a frenzy, Brennan was a picture of calm, knowing the situation was outside of his control.
His thoughts were echoed by Lawrence yesterday, the front-rower showing the settling influence he is likely to bring to a young team when he said too many became “caught up in everyone giving their opinion on everything when their opinion doesn’t matter”.
“If he wants to go, he can go, if he wants to stay, he can stay,” Lawrence said.
“It doesn’t matter what I think or my opinion because it’ll unfold, it’s not my decision, it’s his decision.
“Either he stays, and we go: ‘All right, we’ll stop talking about Jarryd Hayne leaving’, or he leaves and we stop talking about Jarryd Hayne leaving. Then there’ll be something else to talk about. It doesn’t matter.”
It’s a minor point but one that shows Lawrence means business back on the Coast.
The 32-year-old returns to the Gold Coast as a senior player with big-game experience under his belt, something the Titans missed last year as they battled an injury crisis with a relatively young and inexperienced team.
His ability on the field will be welcomed.
But the addition of a levelheaded leader is just as key.
Lawrence made his NRL debut on the Gold Coast in 2011, playing 18 games over two years before joining Manly.
“Ideally I wanted to stay and have a new contract. But the circumstances were that I had one year left with the Titans and was pretty much told there wouldn’t be much after that,” Lawrence said.
“And Manly had offered me three years. So, yes, I wanted to take those three years.
“In a perfect world, I probably would have wanted the Titans to sign me for three years and stay.
“But I wouldn’t change a thing, I went into a starting spot and a grand final at the end of the year.
“And a leadership role and my footy grew a lot and I’m really glad that I got that chance down in Sydney, I cherish it.”
IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT I THINK OR MY OPINION BECAUSE IT’LL UNFOLD, IT’S NOT MY DECISION, IT’S HIS DECISION LAWRENCE ON HAYNE’S FUTURE