Don at home on Coast
Hope for the future helps popular winger opt to stay put
GOLD Coast winger Anthony Don says the promise of future growth with the Titans ensured he sacrificed more than $100,000 to remain a one-club man.
The popular Don confirmed he will finish his career on the Gold Coast after yesterday signing a new twoyear deal in the lead-up to Saturday’s clash against Parramatta in Sydney.
There were fears the Paul Broughton medallist could be lost to the Titans after the offcontract Don recently fielded offers from the Cronulla Sharks and Wests Tigers.
Don stood to pocket more money by moving to Sydney, but the 30-year-old always harboured hopes of remaining at the Gold Coast club with whom he launched his NRL career in 2013.
The unfashionable Don has become a cult figure at the Titans, scoring 63 tries from 105 games, and is proof that loyalty still exists in an age where the code’s elite bask in $1 million contracts.
“I’m really glad to stay on the Coast for the next couple of seasons,” said Don, now secured to the Titans until the end of 2020. “The club is really moving forward, so it’s a good time to be around.
“There were some very generous offers in Sydney but my wife has a permanent job here and I love living on the Gold Coast.
“In the end I want to retire on the Gold Coast when I finish my footy and I wanted to be a one-club player.
“I’ve got two more solid seasons. I’m not shutting the door on another year (in 2021) but we’ll see what happens.”
Don has been one of the Titans’ most consistent players in recent years, having reached double figures on the NRL’s tryscoring charts for four consecutive seasons.
The winger has 11 tries from 19 games this season and can surpass his seasonbest tally of 12 (achieved in the past three campaigns) with a double against the Eels at Homebush.
Titans coach Garth Brennan praised Don’s commitment to the club. “I’m rapt,” he said. “I said from day one I didn’t want Anthony going anywhere, so I’m really glad they got the deal done.
‘‘Everyone loves ‘The Don’. ‘It’s the fact that he is a really good story, he made his debut later in life (at age 25) and wasn’t some superstar kid – Aussies can relate to that.”
Brennan yesterday named an unchanged line-up for an Eels showdown that will pit Jarryd Hayne against his former Titans teammates.