Pot of gold to keep kid talent loyal
The Titans are changing their focus in the region, as Emma Greenwood writes
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HE Titans are determined the next Gold Coast rugby league superstar will be wearing their colours after revamping their development system to ensure they net the best talent.
Club owners the Kelly and Frizelle families have committed to greater funding to future-proof the NRL club as they look to capitalise on one of the biggest catchment areas in the game.
A lack of resources previously led to delays in decision-making, giving the Coast’s southeast Queensland rivals the Broncos the chance to swoop on some of the region’s best young talent as the Titans dithered.
Gold Coast officials hope those days are in the past, though, with the club to make an unprecedented investment in the region’s talent, ensuring youngsters on the Gold Coast and in the NSW Northern Rivers area dream of becoming the next Titans player.
LOOKING AHEAD
Titans chief executive Graham Annesley said the move would “future-proof” the club.
“We’ve been talking a lot about what we need to do to future-proof the club and at our most recent board meeting, the development plan for these players and this level of the local game was discussed and it was agreed by the board that it was important and required funding,” he said.
It’s not an area the Titans have excelled in but in recognising the mistakes of the past, they are moving to ensure their future includes as many locals as possible.
“This is one of the biggest catchment areas in the NRL, right up there with the biggest areas in western Sydney – Parramatta and Penrith,” Annesley said.
“There’s a lot of former Gold Coast and Northern Rivers players playing in the NRL but not as many as we would like with the Titans.
“But the future is about developing talent locally and bringing it through and showing that there’s a pathway and showing that the club is serious about it.
“In the past it’s been difficult for us to do that because we’ve been financially constrained.
“Even though we still have financial constraints, the owners have demonstrated that where we can show there’s a return on investment, they’re prepared to invest. And this is an important part of finding the players that hopefully will go on to represent the Titans.”
CHANGING THINKING
Elite player development manager Jamie McCormack said while the club had always had academies and training opportunities, those included had not been regarded as full Titans players until now.
He said that alone had led to the club missing out on the signatures of promising juniors who wanted to be linked to an NRL club.
“We’ve always had academies and we’ve had training opportunities but we’ve never been able – for a number of years anyway – to dress them up in full Titans kit and play games as the Titans,” he said.
“We’re really reliant at the moment on our feeder clubs in Burleigh and Tweed Seagulls to predominantly provide most of their football when they’re young but we also need them to feel a bit more special and have that desire to wear the Titans jumper.
“We want kids to be an NRL Titans player at some stage during their career.
“If it’s only under-16s that they make, then they can tell their mates that they were a Titans under-16 player or under-18 player.
“But hopefully over time we get the best talented ones – or the most committed ones – to come through and we’ll push them up into first grade.”