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Opinion
Waiting for the Gold Coast to be a success in the NRL is becoming an exercise in futility.
Unlike the Sharks and Jack Gibson’s famous Harold Holt porchlight line, there seems to be no prospect of the Titans ever becoming anything more than a club that makes up the numbers in the NRL.
They have already been overtaken by the Dolphins in the space of two years in the Queensland pecking order and if they were expunged from next year’s competition, how long would it take the casual fan to notice they were no longer around?
Their latest gambit on getting out of the cellar has been to put their faith in Des Hasler despite the dual premiership-winning coach’s second stint at Manly ending in failure.
This is a club renowned for folding when the pressure is turned up and Hasler was supposed to instill resilience into their flimsy DNA.
On the evidence of his first 29 matches at the helm, little has changed at the Titans from the previous attempts by Justin Holbrook, Garth Brennan and Neil Henry to bring success to the tourist strip.
They have gone 10-19 under Hasler, finishing 14th last year and rising to the dizzying heights of 11th this year – although on record they are again 14th but they are artificially higher because they have already pocketed two points for a bye.
The Mad Professor has been unable to strike up a formula to ensure this side is physically and mentally stronger than the 2024 version which won just eight of 24 matches, which was statistically the worst of Hasler’s mostly successful coaching career.
In four of those losses, they held half-time leads only to wither in the second half when the result was on the line.
After being jumped at the start by the Bulldogs in their 40-24 loss in Round 1, the Titans have obliterated the previously red-hot Knights 26-6 and overcome a committed Roosters side 30-12.
Carter Gordon. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
All of a sudden it appeared Hasler was starting to get results.
He loves a siege mentality and it is easy to conjure that up at the Gold Coast when you are largely the forgotten child of the NRL.
Hasler feeds off that kind of negativity.
But alas they have since shown little to no spirit in getting pumped at home, 36-10, by the Dolphins and then capitulating 38-16 to St George Illawarra in Wollongong last Friday.
There is also one other very large excuse they can use for last weel’s defeat – one standing at nearly two metres tall and tipping the scales at 107kg.
Tino Fa’asuamaleaui was suspended. And he will be back this Sunday when they suit up against Canberra.
His absence due to a torn ACL from all but their first two games of last season was considered the main reason why Hasler’s first year at the club fell flat.
But if they can’t even get close to the playoffs with their skipper leading from the front this time around, the pressure will ramp up on Hasler in the middle year of his three-season deal.
To be fair to Hasler, he started off a lower base than when he inherited the Manly rabble in 2004 that Peter Sharp had been trying unsuccessfully to make competitive following the short-lived Northern Eagles debacle.
Back then Hasler went 9-15 in his first season at the helm but he laid the seeds for future success by putting his faith in a young cohort led by Brett and Glenn Stewart, centre Steve Matai and second-rower Anthony Watmough.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Michael Monaghan was brought in from Canberra to be an experienced leader for their young prospects and he is again by Hasler’s side as an assistant coach at the Titans.
His last game for the club before finishing his career in the Super League was the 2007 grand final when Hasler’s upstarts came of age and although they lost to a Melbourne team which was rorting the salary cap, they gained sweet revenge 12 months later with their record-breaking 40-0 flogging of the Storm.
Hasler took them all the way to the trophy again in 2011 before his love of a dollar combined with an offer he couldn’t refuse took him to Canterbury.
After missing the finals two straight seasons and punting club stalwart Kevin Moore as coach, Hasler took the Dogs to the top of the table but the minor premiers faltered at the grand final hurdle to Melbourne.
The 2012 campaign was one of Hasler’s finest moments as a coach.
This was a team of solid first-graders but few stars – Kris Keating and Josh Reynolds in his second season were the halves, Ben Barba became a Dally M Medal winner that year at fullback while James Graham, Michael Ennis and Frank Pritchard were the only big-name forwards.
He took a punt midway through the season by blooding a couple of young forwards who he thought were made of the right stuff with Dale Finucane and Josh Jackson justifying that faith before going on to having lengthy careers built on effort and reliability.
Another runner-up effort in 2014 was the closest Hasler has been since then to snaring an elusive third premiership as a coach.
His first year in his second sojourn at Manly took them to the second round of the playoffs and they over-achieved for a preliminary final berth in 2021 before his stint at the Northern Beaches quickly went south.
Hasler has tried to give youth a chance on the Gold Coast. Young fullback Keano Kini was one of the breakout stars of 2024 but a long-term injury has put him on ice this season.
Carter Gordon was signed from the Wallabies as a left-field solution to their ongoing playmaking problems but he has been laid low by a back injury.
David Fifita. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
The crux of the Titans’ problems stem from the lack of output they get from marquee forward David Fifita with Hasler trying the technique that Holbrook and Brennan before him employed of bringing him off the bench so that he could make an impact.
It usually works for a game or two. Rarely any longer.
Fa’asuamaleaui is a wholehearted warrior in the middle forward rotation but he must be wondering if the struggle is worth the effort at the Titans.0
He won 23 of the first 27 matches of his NRL career at the Storm, culminating in the 2020 grand final win over Penrith but since then he has tasted victory on 24 occasions in his 69 appearances for the Titans. Not nice at all.
Titans fans and the front office should be worried that he can exercise a get-out clause on his contract which runs until the end of 2031 to leave next season.
Based on the evidence surrounding him right now, no one would blame him if he wanted to get out as soon as humanly possible.