Cam-do culture just the ticket

FORMER Gold Coast and Maroons prop David Shillington has voiced his full support for the Bulletin’s campaign to bring his old representative skipper Cameron Smith to the Titans.

Shillington packed down alongside Smith in seven of his eight Origin matches and 13 of his 14 Tests for the Kangaroos.

He has witnessed first-hand the cultural impact the talismanic hooker has made on his teams and is adamant Smith is the missing piece to take Gold Coast from a finals hopeful to an outright premiership contender for the first time.

“I would love to see Cameron at the Titans,” Shillington declared.

“The squad, as it stands without him, are on the up but with Smith they could be a topfour team which is pretty phenomenal for the Titans.

“The club has made the odd finals appearance but it’s been lean times on the Gold Coast.

“The addition of Smith as a genuine superstar could be what they need.”

Shillington has a clearer understanding than most of the decision at hand for Queensland’s greatest Origin champion.

At 32, as one of the oldest players in the NRL, he signed with Gold Coast to help set the tone of a winning culture for a young and talented group.

The parallels with Smith in that respect are clear.

“The Titans were desperate for good leadership (in 2016) and I was really excited as an Origin and Australian player about the opportunity to add value through leadership and playing good footy,” he said. “I was injured at the time and after a few good games I re-did my shoulder and my Titans career unravelled, but you could see the things that were happening at that club.”

After sitting on the sidelines through 2016 Shillington retired and watched from a distance as a poor culture saw a finals-quality team slip backwards, culminating in the wooden spoon in 2019.

It is a sombre lesson that echoes through the years as the Titans, who have assembled the most talented roster since the club’s inception in 2007, search for the field general to ensure standards don’t slip.

There is no better leader on the planet for that job than Smith, who meticulously hand-built the Maroons celebrated ‘eight in a row’ culture alongside former coach Mal Meninga, now with the Titans.

“What made the Maroons culture good was even though there were huge personalities and profiles – it was Smith, Lockyer, Slater, Cronk – but we all knew it was about the 1-17,” Shillington said.

“Everyone in the Maroons team had to turn up and do your job and support each other to beat the Blues.

“Smithy was at the core of that. For him it’s never been about one player, it’s never been about him even though he’s been the highest profile or the highest paid.

“He’s great like that – at the Maroons or the Storm it was never about ego or arrogance.

“It was always about how we play well as a team to be champions.”