Rogers and the ragtags
We put the club first and it showed, says former dual code star
MAT Rogers fronted for his first day as a Titans player blissfully unaware of the pain that awaited.
After five years in rugby union, the dual international’s return to rugby league in early 2007 with the Gold Coast’s new franchise came with caveat.
“Billy Johnstone (strength and conditioning coach) was hard enough at the best of times but when you come back from something he perceived as weak, it was brutal,” Rogers, now 43, said.
“It was the hardest year of my life and if you asked the likes of Scott Prince and Nathan Friend, they’d probably agree. Billy Johnstone’s voice in that first month was torture.
“I was afraid to put anything in my body that would have a detrimental effect at training the next day. I threw up every training session for the first month.
“We knew we weren’t going to be the strongest or the most skilful team but we said we can be the fittest.”
Rogers’ five-season stint at the club, which included a short-lived comeback in 2011, was highlighted by a preliminary final appearance in 2010 and another top-eight finish a year earlier.
Looking back now, he knows he had it good.
“I think we were in the golden age of the Titans when I was there. It was a real footy players club,” the former Cronulla and NSW Waratahs star said.
“You look at the first few years and it was a bit of a ragtag bunch. We worked hard and we overachieved, which is what you want out of your players.
“We put the club first and I think it showed in the results. I feel like I was blessed to be part of a pretty special time at the Titans. It was amazing.”
Now running the 4 ASD Kids charity he founded with wife Chloe and producing season two of TV show Maxing Out, Rogers said he had one major regret from his time as a Titan.
“I do regret not pushing hard enough before the preliminary final (in 2010). Preston Campbell had been out for a month and Carty (coach John Cartwright) put him at fullback.
“I thought ‘he is going to have a bigger impact off the bench’. As a senior player, why didn’t I go to Carty and say ‘you’re making the wrong decision’?. Zilly (fullback William Zillman) was a confidence player and he lost his confidence from that. I think he felt like people didn’t have confidence in him.
“Both Carty and I have chatted about it since and he’s said to me ‘geez I wish you’d said something’. I’d have Preston in the trenches any time but there’s a time and a place when you’re coming back from injury.”
IT WAS THE HARDEST YEAR OF MY LIFE AND IF YOU ASKED THE LIKES OF SCOTT PRINCE AND NATHAN FRIEND, THEY’D AGREE