CHAMBERS: Titans must discard idiots or die

[TITAN PETE]

Geoff Chambers | 07:45am October 2, 2012

IF THE Gold Coast Titans want to survive beyond the next NRL season, they need to adopt the Sydney Swans' now-famous "no d---heads" policy.

With the banks, creditors and angry fans barking loudly outside Titans HQ at Robina, there is absolutely no margin for error.

At both player and management level, it's time for the Titans to weed out all remnants of the Searle era and start from scratch.

Titans fans are at their wits' end, and sources tell me so is the Australian Rugby League Commission.

There will be strict conditions placed on the Titans by the ARLC and any breach will see the demise of the footy club.

This is why the new Titans board -- who will formally take over later this month -- must say "enough is enough".

Searle needs to go once and for all. And importantly, his loyal lieutenant and good mate John Cartwright needs to go.

You only have to look at the Melbourne Storm and Canterbury Bulldogs to see how a club should operate.

Craig Bellamy and Des Hasler are strong coaches with impeccable work ethics that clubs can build their long-term futures around.

Look at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson, the Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers under Phil Jackson and the Green Bay Packers under Vince Lombardi. Great men, great mentors and, importantly, long-term prospects that a franchise can be built around.

Searle should have set Cartwright a clear KPI; win a premiership in your first five years. Instead, Searle and Cartwright have held on to players for too long and failed to hang on to talent coming through the ranks.

Amazingly, Cartwright was given a five-year extension on his contract after two seasons when he failed to make the top eight.

Critically, the Searle-Cartwright pair has brought in players that have terrible track records when it comes to off-field behaviour.

The Storm and the Bulldogs, under Bellamy and Hasler, live and breathe discipline.

They have embraced the "no d---heads" policy and it has paid dividends.

Those clubs didn't chase wayward players solely because they had a profile and were available. They chased the best talent that would best serve the long-term prospects of the footy clubs.

There is no denying that Jamal Idris, Nate Myles and Greg Bird have profiles, but are they the best role models for young players coming through the club?

When did the Gold Coast Titans choose to become the "misfits" club? Maybe it's because other CEOs and coaches decided that off-field shenanigans weren't welcome at their clubs.

The Titans have two halves that can't win a premiership. Scott Prince is a champion but at 32 is in the twilight of his career. Up-and-coming five-eighth Aidan Sezer is only 21 and still has a long way to go.

At fullback, the Storm have Billy Slater, the Bulldogs have Ben Barba, the Rabbitohs have Greg Inglis, Manly have Brett Stewart and the Titans have William Zillman.

Zillman is a talent, but after two knee reconstructions there are serious question marks over the 26-year-old's ability to lead the club to a premiership. The decision to sign him to a five-year contract was mind-boggling.

The Titans desperately need a coach and a football manager who know how to piece together a roster from 1 to 17, and who will avoid bringing in players solely because they have a profile or are outcasts from other clubs.

The way the Storm rebuilt after the salary cap scandal proved how a professional outfit with an inspirational leader can deliver results.

The Titans are like licorice allsorts both on and off the field.

Continued mediocrity is a sure-fire way for a relatively new franchise -- especially one based on the Gold Coast -- to die a slow death.

The pressure is on new CEO David May and the supposedly "independent" board to get it right and win back the faith of the Titans army.

[TITAN PETE]

That is a pretty good summation of where the club is right now but i can't agree with the putting Sh#t on Bird & Myles... the rest of the article is pretty accurate .

Mick Potter is in Australia at the moment & has been thrown around for the Tigers gig but that now looks like Walters will get the job so maybe our "New Board" should be looking at Super Leagues "Coach of the Year" , also wouldn't mind Green coming as an assistant Coach if not head even

[Hail Sezer]

And that folks is the harsh reality of where our club stands currently.

Minus the bit about bird and myles etc...that was pretty harsh.

[DavidBouveng]

It was eery reading this articles as some of his thoughts mirror my own.

Some of us fooled ourself that if we made the 8 we were a chance of doing some damage, but those two clubs were on another planet to us, in detail, in game plan, in structure, in everything.

Except bird and Myles, the article is spot on and we seriously need to get with the modern game if we are to survive.

[teke]

It was eery reading this articles as some of his thoughts mirror my own.

The entire article could have been written by one of our own posters

[DavidBouveng]

The entire article could have been written by one of our own posters

Are you saying it was?

Never more than watching the GF on Sunday has it been more clear about the difference between the teams with a good coach and the teams with an old school 'play hard and do your best' approach coach.

The intricacies of both GF teams left me impressed with where league could be heading, when in the past we have been heading down a boring predictable path.

[DavidBouveng]

Also, it's funny he mentions bird and Myles, but i see them as examples of something the club has well, and both incidentally were named today in the run on Aussie squad.

[jenwood]

Pretty much a very truthful account of where the Titans are at! Apart from Myles and Bird who were our best ! Wish we could just wave a magic wand and get a new coach and training staff and get rid of Searle! While he is involved with the club we will not get the support of the grassroots fans and their families! You can't rip the average Aussie worker off and then expect him to support the team. If we want to win back the fans a new broom is needed and a mighty big one fast! The players don't deserve this crap!

[Smakked]

If we have searle by the end of the year we have no club, thats how it is.

[teke]

Are you saying it was?

Never more than watching the GF on Sunday has it been more clear about the difference between the teams with a good coach and the teams with an old school 'play hard and do your best' approach coach.

The intricacies of both GF teams left me impressed with where league could be heading, when in the past we have been heading down a boring predictable path.

I dont know who wrote it but it echoed similar views of a poster on this board

[Ryan]

I dont know who wrote it but it echoed similar views of a poster on this board

Kough, kough

[teke]

Kough, kough

[Titanic]

It could have been written by anyone of us and about 10 million other rugby league followers. The comments about Myles and Bird were probably not so much about those two as they have redeemed themselves but the perceived culture that attracted them ... roll out one D. Taylor.

[Rage]

That pretty much sums up the last two years of this forum's messages haha, so eerily similar...

[karnage]

The guy is spot on about Greg Bird OFF THE FIELD. He is not a good role model for the younger guys.

I love reading this and I hope it is just the tip of the iceberg. We need our local media to create a perform or perish environment for the entire under performing squad.