Don good to go for Titans in new deal

ANTHONY Don will remain at the Titans for the next two years after sacrificing a pay rise for loyalty to the club that gave him his NRL break.

The Titans were in grave danger of losing the cult hero, with three Sydney clubs understood to have been interested in the classy finisher.

But Don, who turns 31 at the end of the season, will remain on the Gold Coast until the end of 2020 after agreeing to what is likely to be the final deal of his career.

The Grafton product, who played his 100th NRL game earlier this season, is understood to have sacrificed more than $120,000 over the next two years given offers on the table from Sydney clubs.

Instead, the club’s current player of the year has agreed to a take a pay cut from the Titans to remain on the Gold Coast, where he will soon become the leading tryscorer in club history.

Gold Coast are understood to have budged slightly from their original offer but have snared Don – who was already a bargain-basement buy – for an even smaller fee, with last year’s NSW Country representative on less than $140,000 a season.

The Titans were comfortable with their offer given Don’s age and injury history – he has had four shoulder surgeries – but losing him would have been disastrous, especially with Gold Coast product Kane Elgey set to leave and another fan favourite, Konrad Hurrell fighting for his future.

Don crossed in the Gold Coast’s win against New Zealand on Sunday to be sitting level with young gun Phillip Sami on 11 tries this season.

And he believes he has plenty left in the tank after starting his career later than other players.

“My body’s fresh at the moment and I can definitely see myself playing for the next two or three years,” Don told the Bulletin earlier this year.