TITANIC LOSS FOR COAST LEAGUE
TITANS CEO Graham Annesley is confident the Gold Coast NRL club will break even financially next year and become a serious finals contender.
In an extensive interview with the Gold Coast Bulletin, Annesley reveals:
That he gave up his job mid-term as sports minister in the NSW Government because he did not want such a fertile rugby league breeding ground losing an NRL team.
The club came close to closing its doors on several occasions until the NRL and private backers Darryl Kelly and the Frizelles backed it.
The backflip by Daly Cherry-Evans on a lucrative contract stuffed up the Titans’ retention and recruitment program.
The Jarryd Hayne experiment was a failure on the field but success off it.
Annesley yesterday shocked the playing group by telling them he would be leaving in October to return to the NRL administration as head of football – elite programs.
Titans executive chairman Dennis Watt, on behalf of club owners Brett and Rebecca Frizelle and Darryl and Joanne Kelly and the board, said they were “extraordinarily grateful for Graham’s relentless drive” which kept the club going forward.
“Graham has been a strong and courageous leader in his five years as CEO, helping ensure the survival of the club in the very first instance and then driving the process to lay strong foundations for future sustainable success,” he said.
“He leaves us in great shape and with wife Erica will be really missed – both professionally and personally.”
Annesley acknowledged his five years had been a rollercoaster ride.
“I probably didn’t realise when I accepted it that it was quite as dire as it was,” he told the Bulletin. “We had some very difficult times over the first 12 months or so – times where frankly we were on a couple of occasions confronted with the prospect of closing the doors.
“It was only ultimately
NO REASON WHY WE CAN’T BE A TOP EIGHT TEAM GRAHAM ANNESLEY
when the NRL stepped in 12 months later that we had security of tenure and they had agreed to underwrite the club until such time as it was ready to be sold back to private interest.”
Annesley said the club was about to break even financially and on the weekend sold out all tickets for the last clash against the Cowboys.
He estimates the club could have sold 30,000 tickets and believes its future success means it needs a stadium as large as Cbus at Robina.
Annesley said most other NRL clubs would be happy to have a squad like the Titans.
“I think the calibre of team we’ve assembled over the last couple of years and with the additions we have next year there is absolutely no reason why we can’t be a top eight team and even go further than that,” he said.