PROCTOR MAKES COACHING CALL
TITANS STAR’S VIEW ON CLUB’S SEARCH
TITANS captain Kevin Proctor has thrown his weight behind Kevin Walters as Gold Coast coach just an hour after being asked to endorse Terry Matterson for the job.
Matterson, who with fellow assistant Craig Hodges acted as interim co-coach for the final two games of the season, said he would love to take the reins on a permanent basis next year.
His revelation in the media conference following the Titans’ courageous 20-16 loss to the Roosters, led to Proctor immediately being asked his opinion and saying he would “100 per cent” like to see him take on the role.
“He’s a good coach and I’ve learnt a lot off him this year and the group of players look up to him as well, so, yeah,” Proctor said.
“It’s a spanner in the works, I guess.”
One of former coach Neil Henry’s strongest supporters, Proctor is genuine in his support of Matterson, who quickly intervened to say it was unfair to put his captain “on the spot”.
But his preference is likely to be to work with Walters, if the Maroons coach puts his hand up for a full-time NRL role.
“I’d love to see him there,” Proctor said of Walters.
“I’ve worked with him before (at Melbourne).
“But it’s not up to me, it’s up to the board and Graham (chief executive Graham Annesley) and I’m sure they’ll make the right decision for the club.”
Regardless of who takes on the role, Proctor hoped the decision would be made quickly now the season has ended.
“We just want to find out who it is and then we can move on as a squad,” he said.
“It’s going to take a bit of time and they want to get the right person there, so it’s fair enough they’re taking their time with the decision.
“But the season’s over now and hopefully they find a coach before the pre-season starts and we’ll just move on from there.”
While disappointed with the team’s loss to the Roosters, Proctor said he was proud of his threadbare side’s effort.
Gold Coast headed into the game as massive underdogs against the second-placed Chooks and used their 34th player of the season as Keegan Hipgrave made his NRL debut.
“I’m really proud of the boys and the effort we put in,” Proctor said.
“We had a depleted team for starters and then the last 20 minutes we had no one on the bench and the boys were just hanging on.
“But we had them on toast there for a bit and I guess there were just a few things that didn’t go our way and they came home strong and were too good in the end.”
Proctor, who regained the captaincy for the final match of the season after being stripped of the honour after his post Anzac Test bender, said the Titans hoped to take a leaf out of the Roosters book and follow their horror season with a finals appearance next year.
“The young guys will learn from this year,” Proctor said.