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  1. #1
    Moderator Bayside Titan's Avatar
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    Default Luke Bailey Calls Time on NRL Career.

    Skipper Greg Bird admits slumping Gold Coast face a huge task if they are to send stalwart Luke Bailey into retirement as winner.
    Pummelled 42-0 by the Warriors in Auckland on Sunday, the Titans returned home on Monday to news that 34-year-old ex-Test prop Bailey will call it quits following Sunday's season-ending final round home NRL match against Canterbury.
    Bailey, one of the first players signed by the Titans ahead of their inaugural 2007 campaign, is retiring after 14 seasons in the top grade following his debut with St George Illawarra.
    Bailey missed the drubbing by the Warriors with a neck injury but is expected to take the field against the Bulldogs for his 151st match for the Titans and 270th NRL appearance.
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    Bird said the club would find it hard to replace the leadership of Bailey, a veteran of four Tests for Australia and 15 State of Origin matches for NSW.
    "He's going to be missed not just by me but by everyone at the club," Bird told AAP.
    Bailey joins Ashley Harrison (retired) and England-bound Mark Minichiello as three vastly experienced forwards who won't be at the Titans' next season.
    The heavy loss to the Warriors was the first time in the Titans' history the club has been kept scoreless in a game and, as their sixth consecutive loss, it equalled a club record that was only been set earlier in the season.
    Bird, who could miss the match against the Bulldogs after being slapped with a grade one dangerous throw charge following the Warriors game, says delivering a positive result for the veteran trio will be tough.
    The 14th-placed Titans have won just twice at home this season with their last victory in Robina coming way back in April against Brisbane.
    "It is hard because confidence is basically as low as it could be at this stage of the year with the way we've been playing," he said.
    "The home form has been disappointing."
    LUKE "BULL" BAILEY - An NRL workhorse
    * Clubs: St George Illawarra (2000-06), Gold Coast (2007-14)
    * Games: 269
    * Representative career
    State of Origin: NSW (15 games) Tests: Australia (4 games) NSW Country: 2
    * Dally M prop of the year in 2005
    * Rugby League Week player of the year 2006
    * His 150 appearances for the Titans is second only to Mark Minchiello (171)
    Last edited by Bayside Titan; 01-09-14 at 02:57 PM.

  2. #2
    Moderator Bayside Titan's Avatar
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    That article was from the SMH WEBSITE.

    He will be a big loss. If only most of the team played with the Ticker he did we would be ALOT better off.

  3. #3
    Star Player Titan4Life's Avatar
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    Will be sad to see him go. Such a character to the club and one of my favourites. Showed most of the young guys up with hard work. Thanks for the memories Bull! Hope to see him around the club as a forwards coach or some other developmental role.

  4. #4
    Administrator DIEHARD's Avatar
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    I have really enjoyed his time at the Titans and he has been one of our best and most consistent.

    I used to hate him before he arrived at the Titans. Because he was a Blue and a Dragon!

    Now I will miss him.
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  5. #5
    Administrator DIEHARD's Avatar
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    Luke Bailey to retire

    1409551548519.jpg

    iSelect Titans foundation player Luke Bailey, a leader of this club whose legacy will remain for many years, has announced he will retire after the last round clash with the Bulldogs on Sunday.

    The 34-year-old prop, who missed yesterday’s match against the Warriors in Auckland because of a neck injury, had anticipated playing on in 2015 but with the Titans unable to commit to a deal, he felt it’s time to end his outstanding 15-season NRL career.

    “My body felt good and I’d had talks with the club and was hoping a further one-year deal but I can understand that the club needs to look to the future and I accept that,” Bailey said.

    “I don’t really want to move and play for another NRL club and packing up the family and going overseas for just one season didn’t really appeal, so it’s time to call it quits.

    “I feel very fortunate to have been in the game for as long as I have and I have few regrets.”

    Asked how he would like to be remembered, Bailey replied:

    “I’d like to think I’ve always been a player that had a crack and was consistently above average for 15 years and I am proud of that.

    “And that was possible with the support of my family, my wife Rebecca and our children and my mum and dad.

    “My one regret has been not reaching a grand final but I will settle with having a great, healthy family and being healthy myself.”

    Bailey and close mate Mark Minichiello, who has signed a two-year deal with Hull in England, will play their farewell games as the last remaining foundation players from 2007 in Sunday’s last match of the season against the Bulldogs.

    The evergreen prop who has played 269 NRL game since his debut for his home club St George Illawarra in round one of 2000, played 15 State of Origin games for NSW from 2002-09 and four Test matches from 2003-04.

    Tributes flowed from those who have watched Bailey’s journey on the Gold Coast.

    “Words cannot describe how I feel about Bails,” said his coach for almost all of his eight seasons as a Titan, John Cartwright.

    “A warrior, club man, team man, tough, dedicated and above all a good mate. I would trust him with my life.

    “I would have loved to have had the honour of playing alongside him. He was our co-captain at the start in 2007 and my greatest regret was not making him captain in 2009.

    “He will go down as the best club player I have coached. He will be a success in whatever he chooses to do.”

    Added Minichiello,who has shared a special bond with Bailey and appropriately will be there to share their last club match together, says his mate will be sorely missed.

    “He is a club legend after his eight years here and played a big role in how the club has developed,” said Minichiello.

    “His work ethic is something the young players here will want to emulate and that’s the legacy he will leave; if young forwards can learn from that it will help them enormously in their careers.

    “He has such a big motor and to still be up there with the best in our fitness drills at age 34 is amazing really. And he always does extras, you see him sweating it out in the altitude room regularly; that is what has made him a legend of the Gold Coast Titans.

    “You don’t last 15 years without being a quality player and person. I loved playing with him; he wore his heart on his sleeve every week and that’s the player you want to play with.

    “He is one of the best front-rowers we have seen and it is the little things that not all people see that makes him among the best in the business.”

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  6. #6
    Moderator lonegull's Avatar
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    Hopefully the titans have him as part of the new coaching team, with the Bull running the water and used in a development role

  7. #7
    Coach C-Whiz's Avatar
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    Over the history of the Titans, Bull would easily be the most consistent and dependable player, who always gave everything he had.
    The pin-up boy for hard work, guts and determination over natural talent.

  8. #8
    Super Moderator TITAN PETE's Avatar
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    He will be with Presto for the time being in T 4 T
    #itaintweaktospeak

  9. #9

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    i like his quirky honest sense of humour

  10. #10
    Rep Player ozynorts's Avatar
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    My favourite Titan. I have a pic with him taken on the opening day for the new stadium.
    The amount of times he saved our ass making a covering tackle that should have been made by others was always inspiring.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by ozynorts View Post
    My favourite Titan. I have a pic with him taken on the opening day for the new stadium.
    The amount of times he saved our ass making a covering tackle that should have been made by others was always inspiring.
    I agree. I'll miss him although I was a bit over his quick taps.lol. An honest hardworking player that never gave up and epitomised the spirit of the team in the early years. It is really a changing of the guard. What sort of culture the team has in the future will determine whether it sinks or swims. New "Baileys" need to emerge.

  12. #12
    Rep Player ozynorts's Avatar
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    Quick taps were one thing but that intercept he threw in the final against Brisbane nearly killed me.

  13. #13
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    I'm really going to miss his chip 'n chase game. I'm serious, that made for a great laugh every now 'n then..

    But yeah, probably going to be the most missed out of the blokes hanging them up, this year. If every player had a bit of what Bails brought to the game in the dedication department. Our team would improve ten fold.

  14. #14
    Immortal Titanic's Avatar
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    His kick chases were a shining example of his work ethic. He will certainly be missed on the field but I'm glad he's gone out before age totally took over ... I think the club has made the right decision by not re-newing and I think he has taken it like the clubman he is ... onya Bull, onwards and upwards.

    I don't know if he could run water because the referees would cop plenty
    Four reasons to escape to Queensland: Sun, Surf, Sand & the Titans.

  15. #15
    Administrator DIEHARD's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Titanic View Post
    His kick chases were a shining example of his work ethic. He will certainly be missed on the field but I'm glad he's gone out before age totally took over ... I think the club has made the right decision by not re-newing and I think he has taken it like the clubman he is ... onya Bull, onwards and upwards.

    I don't know if he could run water because the referees would cop plenty
    Yea a graceful exit into being a club hero. We need our heroes.
    PUT EM TO THE SWORD! SHOW SOME STEEL!

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