Nene Macdonald

Titans’ Nene Macdonald hails Maroons coach Mal Meninga after his promising Gold Coast debut

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TODD BALYM THE COURIER-MAIL JUNE 22, 2015 12:00AM

NENE Macdonald is a powerfully built centre like Mal Meninga and it’s the advice the Queensland great gave him when playing for the PNG Kumuls two years ago that has him primed to become the Gold Coast’s newest wrecking ball.

The 105kg Macdonald made a strong a Titans debut in the loss to the Warriors on Saturday night and now gets the chance to square off against the former Sydney Roosters teammates he couldn’t unseat to get NRL action.

With his size, speed and strength, MacDonald, 21, just might be the answer to the Titans left centre worries and he is a talent that has long been on the radar for many astute judges.

Meninga returned from the 2013 World Cup as Kumuls coach suitably impressed by MacDonald.

“He is a great coach, good bloke too and easy to talk too,” Macdonald said.

“I’ve learnt a lot from him. I obviously spent a short time with PNG and him but he taught me a lot. It’s great to get coaching from people like that.”

Importantly MacDonald joined the Titans with some history with a few key players.

He graduated Kirwan high school in Townsville with hooker Kierran Moseley, played schoolboys rep games with halfback Kane Elgey and Kumuls World Cup games with fullback David Mead.

With so much young talent at the club this year and signed for next season he is excited about the direction the Titans are heading.

“I can’t wait to see what the future holds for me, obviously with Neil and the coaches giving me this opportunity I just need to make them proud,” he said.

Macdonald waited patiently in the wings at the Roosters for a couple of seasons but once it became clear he was not considered in Trent Robinson’s best team in the future the PNG international sought a release to the Titans.

Now less than two weeks after leaving Bondi he is preparing to face his former teammates on Sunday in Gosford.

“It would be good to go against the boys, that would be a good challenge for me,” Macdonald said.

“They were a bit surprised I was leaving. It all just happened fast. They were happy for me.

“I will probably cop it this week on group chat.

“The Roosters have a lot of depth in their team, I was waiting for an opportunity but to get this opportunity I will grab it with both hands and hopefully I will just play good footy and stay here.”

Macdonald said he’d actually spent a few weeks at the Titans in the under-20s before joining the Roosters and it was Gold Coast’s new recruitment chief Jamie Mathiou, who Neil Henry also poached from the Roosters this year, that helped clinch the deal to get him.

“I was originally here at the Titans for a few months in the under-20s system then I went down to the Roosters,” he said.

“Once I asked for a release a few clubs were offering me contracts but I know Jamie, he is the recruitment manager and obviously it’s a good spot to come here.

“He offered me a much better opportunity than the other clubs and he has always been good to me, he was at the Roosters and always looked after me.

“Out of respect to him I decided to come here. The boys here looked like they needed some players so it’s been great.”

Fellow new recruit Chad Redman said it wasn’t a tough decision to leave his hometown Newcastle for his chance at the Titans.

His move looks like paying immediate dividends with the heavy injury toll at the Titans set to deliver Redman plenty of game time in the coming weeks.

“I was down in Newcastle stuck in the queue in the hooking position, then the Titans came through and I was more than happy to be here,” Redman said.

“I always thought (it would be hard to leave) before I played NRL. But once I played NRL I just kicked into gear that you’ve got to go wherever the opportunity is and I’m just happy to be on the Gold Coast.”

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Another feather in Mathiou's cap. I wonder where Redman thinks he fits in after Mortimer settles back into Nine and Moseley is fit. Are we hedging our bets that we won't have a half for next year or just worried about the immediate future with his signing. I'm not saying that Redman isn't a good player, I was amazed to see a hooker scooting from dummy half and kicking for the Titans, opposition weren't expecting it either.

Yeah was really good to see our hooker take some runs out of dummy half and look dangerous, Macdonald looked dangerous with ball in hand aswell

Titans rookie Nene McDonald faces tough challenge against Broncos veteran Justin Hodges
PETER BADEL THE COURIER-MAIL JULY 24, 2015 12:00AM

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GOLD Coast coach Neil Henry has challenged Nene Macdonald to repel the Justin Hodges threat as the Titans rookie braces for the biggest test of his career at Suncorp Stadium.

Macdonald’s bona fides as a future Maroons star will be examined when he marks-up against Origin stalwart Hodges in a thrilling three-quarter duel in the Queensland derby.

Macdonald was named in Queensland’s junior Emerging Origin squad in January and plays his fifth game as the Titans’ left centre since his mid-season arrival from the Roosters.

The impressively built 21-year-old is rated a potential Origin player by Maroons coach Mal Meninga and he will need every fibre of his 100kg frame to counter Hodges’ attacking punch.

Macdonald has proved a handful, averaging 154m a game, but Henry admits a showdown with Broncos wizard Hodges will be the ultimate baptism for the Titans young gun.

“Nene will not only have to hold his own out there but he will have to make ‘Hodgo’ work,” Henry said.

“This will be a good test for him. When you come up against the best players it lifts you and gives you a good challenge to be a better first-grader.

“Nene is only in the early phase of his NRL career but he needs to hold his own.

“He’s playing some good footy, so he has to make sure he contains Hodgo and if he does that, he’ll be helping the team.”

Macdonald, born in Port Moresby, caught Meninga’s eye with some classy displays for Papua New Guinea at the 2013 World Cup.

As a youngster, Macdonald moved with his family to Cairns, the very north Queensland town that helped develop Hodges into a Broncos, Test and Origin star.

The 192cm Macdonald waged a fierce battle with champion Manly centre Jamie Lyon a fortnight ago and admits he must handle the Hodges threat — or risk being axed by the Titans.

“I’m trying to keep staying there (in the NRL),” he said.

“There’s a few boys in our side who will fight hard and if I let the team down, I won’t be there for long.

“Hopefully we get some wins and I can stay in the team.

“I’m pretty excited to play the Broncos, hopefully all the boys will bring their A-game for them.”

While Macdonald is taking nothing for granted, Henry believes the hard-running utility can be a long-term weapon in the Titans’ backline.

“Nene has a good skill-set,” he said.

“We recruited him with an eye to the future, we bought him to be a regular member of our side for years to come, but we have to be patient with his development and understand he is a rookie and it’s a learning curve.

“He’s a young guy with a bit of power and speed and he’s a big body, he’ll see this as a real challenge to try and contain what Hodgo throws at him.”

definitely worrying after seeing Lyon brush him off like a fly a couple of weeks back.