Presto loves life on Coast
Club’s historic first signing has an affinity with community spirit
HE’S hardly a lost Titan but is Preston Campbell the most popular Titan of all time?
There’s little doubt he remains one of the club’s greatest assets, even if he did finish his NRL career and time with the Titans seven years ago.
The Titans’ inaugural signing, Campbell started his career on the Gold Coast 20 years ago with the Gold Coast Chargers and has had an affinity for the city ever since.
“I think it stems back to my debut. It was the club that gave me my debut,” Campbell said.
“I know it wasn’t the Titans but it was the Gold Coast nonetheless.
“I always said if there was a Gold Coast team in the comp I definitely would have stayed up here.
“Apart from the lifestyle, it’s the people – they embraced the Gold Coast Chargers when I was up here and they did in the beginning.
“At least during the time when I was playing, they embraced the team and the team embraced the community – there was a relationship there.”
That relationship continued with the Titans, with their work in community helping lure Campbell away from Penrith to join the new venture.
“The Gold Coast Titans set the bar when it came to community work and made a lot of clubs, made the NRL, stand up and look at the great work they were doing in community,” he said.
“In the early days, the board wanted to head in that direction.
“I loved Penrith at the time – they really looked after me – but the fact that I could work in community was something that I was really passionate about and really drew me back to the Gold Coast.”
That work continues to this day, with Campbell working with the Preston Campbell Foundation at Dreamworld to help indigenous people gain workforce skills, while also acting as an ambassador for the Deadly Choices program.