How history can repeat
MAL Meninga pursued and signed David Fifita to the Gold Coast Titans in order to be a circuit breaker for the club.
Mal knows a bit about circuit breakers, he was signed to the Canberra Raiders by Don Furner in 1986 to be exactly that.
Meninga would prove to be one of rugby league’s greatest ever signings.
He didn’t just deliver success, he spawned the Green Machine dynasty of the late ’80s and early ’90s, one of the modern era’s most successful and feared teams.
Meninga’s signing wasn’t just about what he brought to a contest, it was about attracting other quality players and changing the narrative around the Raiders club.
When I was a kid and the Canberra Raiders entered the competition, my perception was that they were a lowly team in an ugly, green slime jersey.
Meninga turned that slime green jersey into a jersey which represented power and success.
It’s unfair, and to be honest, unrealistic to suggest David Fifita can do for the Titans, what Mal did for the Raiders. I don’t think any player could be expected to do that, but already the narrative around the Gold Coast Titans is changing.
This is a club on the climb, coach Justin Holbrook is developing a successful style of football and developing a roster capable of success.
Sure, the Titans have paid a lot of money, some say, “ridiculous money”. But it’s easy to forget that the Raiders were criticised in some quarters for signing Big Mal.
Some rugby league journalists at the time said it was crazy money, they labelled Mal, “lazy” and suggested he would fail in the Sydney competition. Sometimes a club needs to take a risk. David Fifita is a long way off the finished product – which is exciting – but the improvement doesn’t lie in his physical attributes, it’s in his ability to understand his own game and work with playmakers who will make him more effective.
At the moment Fafita’s big moments come out of nowhere, with no apparent planning and more a result of his physical attributes.
Great defenders will relish the challenge of handling Fifita’s physicality, in these instances a backrower needs a Plan B – a playmaker who can create a half-gap or a running line.
These are aspects that are coached into a player, but David’s got to want to learn these more subtle aspects of football. Regardless of the work that lies ahead for Fifita, it’s a huge victory for the Titans. The people I’m most happy for are the club’s owners Joanne and Darryl Kelly and Rebecca and Brett Frizelle. These four people are the most decent you will find at any level of rugby league. Players, coaches, administrators, fans, throw them all in, you won’t find four better people or four people who have given so much for such little reward.
The Frizelle family have poured so much money and energy into the Titans because they love the Gold Coast.
They believe the area needs a rugby league team.
The Kelly family have given so much, that if you knew the time and the money, your jaw would hit the floor. The Kelly family do it because they love rugby league.
And they do it for personal reasons which aren’t mine to talk about, but further highlight their humanity.
There’s a lot of leeches in rugby league and the Frizelle and Kelly families have had more blood sucked from them than almost anyone I know.
Gorden Tallis is regularly criticised for his commitment to the Titans as opposed to the Broncos – the club he captained and won grand finals with.
I spend a lot of time with Gordie these days and three things that really appeal to him are great people, rugby league and great people who are part of rugby league for the right reasons.
Gorden’s a Titan’s ambassador because he knows the club’s owners are a rarity in our sport, people who give for nothing more than the hope that the team will be successful.
The Titans deserve success because their owners deserve it.