FOOL’S GOLD AS TITANS BACKFLIP CATCHES UP WITH RIVALS
NRL salary cap investigators found the Manly Sea Eagles cheated the salary cap in convincing skipper Daly Cherry-Evans to backflip on the Gold Coast Titans in 2015 in a deal so suspect their then chief executive threatened to quit.
Cherry-Evans agreed to an eight-year $10 million contract, at the time the most lucrative in NRL history, to play the remainder of his career at the Sea Eagles.
However, the money registered in salary cap documents was less than what he was being paid, with sources revealing he was getting another $400,000 outside of the cap. There are no suggestions Cherry-Evans was aware of the payment discrepancies.
TITANS prop Jarrod Wallace has slammed the Gold Coast’s 46-point loss to the Dragons as “embarrassing” but insists another Broncos drubbing is not looming.
The Titans suffered a shocking 54-8 loss to St George-Illawarra in Toowoomba on Sunday – new coach Garth Brennan’s first heavy defeat.
To make matters worse, captain Ryan James (dangerous contact), halfback Ash Taylor (tripping) and young forward Keegan Hipgrave (dangerous contact) were yesterday hit with charges by the match review committee.
Only Hipgrave (one match) faces suspension, however, the Titans need all hands on deck to bounce back on Easter Sunday at Suncorp Stadium.
The Titans have a bad record against Brisbane, losing the past seven derbies and 15 of their past 17 encounters.
The worst was a 54-0 thumping at home in Round 22 last year.
Wallace, a former Broncos forward, said the Titans simply had to turn things around.
“It’s embarrassing for us, our fans and coaching staff,” he said. “We’ve got to get ready for the Broncos and make sure we don’t do that with them or else they will put 50 points on us as well.
“The Dragons picked out our weaknesses that we thought we didn’t have. We had no desire in defence. We’ve got to fix that now.”
Will Matthews (knee) is expected to replace Hipgrave, who faces his second suspension in an NRL career that is just three games old.