Skilled at creating an Origin atmosphere
GOLD Coast Titans managing director Michael Searle last night forecast an `atmosphere equal to Origin' when the club storms on to Skilled Park this season.
"What the fans will feel here will be unparalleled, except for Origin games," he said as the club launched their 2008 campaign at the new $160 million stadium.
"Skilled Park provides another dimension for this football team. It will be an experience that fans will really warm to.
"For so long we have talked about this vision for our game that is Skilled Park, now people can actually experience it."
The 350 special guests -- mainly sponsors and Palladium Club members -- at last night's launch were treated to a light-show bonanza as the 35 members of the Titans' top squad were introduced.
Searle said the launch extravaganza was merely a prelude to what would happen on-field in 2008.
"There is a lot of anticipation surrounding the football team's performance on the paddock this season." he said. "We saw a glimpse of that the other night in Cairns (when the Titans toppled the Cowboys 30-22 in a trial).
"That was something we have been really hoping for, a fast football team with some size as well. "I think we are a better team this year."
Searle said Titans supporters deserved to live in the luxury of Skilled Park, but urged fans to never forget the code's history, especially the years spent playing out of the ill-equipped Gold Coast Stadium at Carrara.
"It is important for the people of the Gold Coast to understand the history and the difficulties we have had in retaining national licences here," he said.
"It is not something that can just happen. You have to be firmly grounded and that is what Carrara did for us. That is what our history does for us. It keeps us grounded."
Searle also thanked the club's huge supporter base for helping to realise the city's rugby league dreams.
"This stadium is a great reward for all the years of hard work by so many Gold Coast people and the support of the community," he said. "It is very hard to describe how hard this city has worked for this team."
Searle also had a cautionary note for other national franchises entering the Gold Coast.
"There is a finite market here," he warned. "It concerns me when national sporting administrators make decisions from head office without doing their research and just looking at the Titans model and saying 'our model should work'.
"The Titans model worked after seven years of very hard work. This was not an overnight campaign."
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