COMING OF AGE
LESS than two years ago, Tyrone Roberts was forced out of the Gold Coast Titans after falling down the halves pecking order.
Yesterday, he was installed as captain for the rest of 2019 following a seasonending knee injury to Ryan James.
WHEN injured Titans captain Ryan James handed Tyrone Roberts the reins for the rest of the NRL season, it capped a remarkable 18month turnaround.
The veteran five-eighth was forced out of the club at the end of 2017, with Gold Coast’s administration making it clear they were investing in Kane Elgey as Ash Taylor’s halves partner.
The best they could offer him was a bench utility role and with that came a pay packet far below that of a starting half. At that time, he was noticeably on edge whenever asked about his contract situation – a far cry from the friendly personality that greeted media yesterday.
Roberts admits he “didn’t want to leave” the Titans but accepted it was time to pursue another opportunity in the form of a three-year deal with English Super League club Warrington.
Despite a strong season, he exited the Wolves after one year on compassionate grounds and later relinked with Garth Brennan’s squad, who had since seen a struggling Elgey depart for Manly.
Titans players and staff have raved about the leadership Roberts has brought on his return and that heightened status was first seen when he was named skipper for February’s trial against North Queensland.
Roberts was injured early in Round 1 but has bounced back to orchestrate consecutive victories against the Panthers and Knights. The 27year-old was thrust into the captaincy mid-match against former club Newcastle when James suffered a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament tear.
Afterwards, Brennan had discussions with club powerbrokers including head of performance and culture Mal Meninga, chairman Dennis Watt and co-owners Rebecca Frizelle and Darryl Kelly before a consensus was reached to entrust Roberts with the full-time responsibility.
James announced Roberts would take over as skipper at a team meeting yesterday.
“It’s going to mean a lot, I was honoured,” Roberts said.
“I had to sit in my car and I shed a little tear just because I was so emotional.”
There are two key ways Roberts wants to lead.
“Actions speak louder than words. That’s the way I was brought up,” he said.
“(And) I want to be approachable.
“Being a captain, you want to see the young kids who are coming through the club, if they want to ask a strong question or big question, they can come to me. That’s sort of the role I was doing before and now that I have got the ‘c’, I don’t want anything to change.”