Juniors Titans could be fed to Bears
Adam Gardini
13Aug07
A FEEDER arrangement between the Gold Coast Titans and Burleigh is up in the air, with the NRL club planning to channel most of its senior players through Tweed Heads next season, with the Bears getting its juniors.
This season the Titans established feeder relationships with Queensland Cup clubs Burleigh, Tweed Heads and Ipswich.
However, that is set to change next season with the Titans aiming to take on a more uniform approach to their feeder arrangement by having the majority of their senior players linked with the one club, Tweed Heads.
Gold Coast chief executive Michael Searle said yesterday despite the change, the club still hoped to have a relationship with both Burleigh and Ipswich and rejected rumours Burleigh had been dumped.
"We've offered to the Burleigh president again, where we would give them $30,000-odd a year plus a relationship with our good junior players so any junior Titans players could still play at Burleigh," said Searle.
"It's completely in their court. So if they want to decide they didn't want to proceed, that would be fine, that would be their choice. But we haven't been formally notified they don't want to proceed.
"It's completely up to them.
"Burleigh is an independent club with lots of strength ... If they chose not to proceed and wanted to come back they would always be welcomed back."
Bears chief executive Adrian Vowles said his club was still discussing whether they wanted to agree to an arrangement with the Titans next season.
"We haven't finalised anything as yet," he said.
"I think it's going to be done in the next couple of weeks."
Vowles said the club had not been greatly affected by the existing feeder arrangement and said Bears officials had to simply weigh-up the new proposal.
"It hasn't affected us too much, we haven't got a great deal of players (from the Titans) this year," he said.
"It's one of those things where we've just got to work out what's best for Burleigh.
"The players that came back from the Titans have been very good this year and every one of them has come back with a great attitude. We've just got to work out what's best for us and go from there. The Titans have been good for the Coast."
Searle said the Titans had decided there was a need for individuals not playing NRL to be involved with the one feeder club for continuity, with the Seagulls to employ a similar coaching and playing structure to that used by the Gold Coast next season.
He said Ipswich were still interested in having a relationship with the Titans, although conceding it would be on a smaller scale than this season.
"It's really been a decision of the head coach (John Cartwright)," he said.
"He wants to have senior players all playing at the one club just purely for continuity and one set of coaching plays. They'll (Tweed Heads) probably get the majority of players but we'll still give NRL-quality players to Ipswich as well."
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