Q AND A: WHY GRAHAM ANNESLEY THINKS THE COAST’S FUTURE IS BRIGHT

Gold Coast Bulletin: You arrive here (in 2013), the club has been $25 million in debt and near bankruptcy, the tradies are furious after losing millions in the Centre of Excellence fiasco. The club has won the wooden spoon. What blue skies did you see?

Graham Annesley: I think the primary reason I was attracted to the role was that I was at the NRL when the Titans were granted their licence. I thought it was the right decision for the game because of the incredibly fertile rugby league landscape that exists here on the Gold Coast. I didn’t want to see it fail. GCB: We then see a period of quite large change, foundation coach John Cartwright leaves, and owner Michael Searle also leaves. The club leaves Robina. What are your memories of that period?

GA: None of these things are ever easy. There was a board, and I don’t make these decisions in isolation, they’re made at board level, to which I contribute obviously. They’re tumultuous decisions to make. They affect individuals.

GCB: Did you have that calmness in 2015 when Daly Cherry-Evans backs out of a strong financial deal, or were you furious about that?

GA: Oh look, I was pretty upset about that. Not so much because he changed his mind. It was the timing of it and the fact that we had made other recruitment decisions and retention decisions based on the amount that we had committed to Daly.

GCB: The cocaine saga where you had high-profile players arrested – it’s a lengthy court period – was that a more difficult situation to deal with?

GA: They are the more difficult issues to deal with always. Football issues – will a player come, won’t he come, those things are the business of rugby league. But when you have external issues like allegations of that nature they are very difficult to deal with because they impact on the club in so many different ways.

GCB: The club then buys Jarryd Hayne, you get a lot of sponsor interest back, you have fans standing on their feet at that first game applauding him. How do you see that now?

GA: Well, it depends how you measure it. Did Jarryd work out for us on the field? No, he didn’t. Is that why we bought him? Primarily that’s why we signed him, yes. We wanted him to add to the depth of our team and to give us a marquee player who would hopefully win us matches. But Jarryd’s very unique in that he brings with him a whole raft of other benefits. Commercial benefits that we saw the immediate impact of.

GCB: How do you see the financial future for the Titans?

GA: I think it’s really bright. Clearly the new broadcasting deal the NRL signed and the great distribution of proceeds of that to clubs this year has significantly helped a lot of clubs. But the real trick in running a football club is to make sure that when your revenue increases your costs don’t increase at a greater rate. So the discipline required to take the additional revenue and maintain strong control over costs is the key factor which will stand this club in good stead going forward.

GCB: Would you like to retire here and become a Titans supporter full time?

GA: You know I’d like to think – I’ve already said to (owners) Darryl (Kelly) and Rebecca (Frizelle) – when I’m done in Sydney (laughs) or Sydney is done with me, whatever comes first, I would. I consider this home now.