No more NRL spoons for Titans: Cartwright

[TITAN PETE]

Wayne Heming AAP Wed, Nov 02, 2011 - 3:36 PM


Gold Coast coach John Cartwright has rolled out the NRL club's $5 million rescue package, headed by representative stars Jamal Idris and Nate Myles, promising Titans' fans they'll never be burdened by another wooden spoon on his watch.

Idris (signed on a five-year deal), Myles (four years), Beau Champion (three years) and Luke Douglas (three years) were the high-priced recruits among seven players showcased by the Titans at their Skilled Park headquarters at Robina on Wednesday.

They're part of the club's re-birth following a forgettable 2011 season where age caught up with them.

"We can't pretend last year didn't happen," said Cartwright of a season in which they lost 18 of their 24 games and finished the year with the worst defensive record of any team in the NRL.

"We have to learn from it - make sure it never happens again."

Cartwright was careful not to make any bold premiership predictions or promises but said the club's expectations remained as high as ever.

"We're here to win a title," he said, running his eye over his off-season recruits which also included ex-Roosters flyer Phil Graham (one year), Beau Falloon (two years) and 20-year-old Bulldogs five-eighth Aiden Sezer (two years) - a Toyota Cup point-scoring sensation before undergoing knee surgery this year.

Cartwright was excited about the prospect of winning back Gold Coast's fans who had little to celebrate last season.

"This is as excited as I get," he said with a straight face.

"It's like the first day at school, Christmas Day, birthday, Melbourne Cup, all rolled into one.

"It's a very fine line between top and bottom in the NRL and not many clubs could put so many new guys on the stage as we have today, so I'm genuinely excited to see what these guys and the guys left from last year can bring out in each other."

Cartwright is under pressure to lift the Titans from last place back into the finals after the club showed faith in him by offering him a new five-year contract last season when his side was struggling.

There have been constant rumours halfback and captain Scott Prince could leave the club which is in a rebuilding stage after farewelling veteran Preston Campbell, workaholic hooker Nathan Friend and tireless forward Anthony Laffranchi.

Titans boss Michael Searle says the money spent on recruiting strike players like Idris and Champion is one of the best decisions the club had made.

"For us, this is chapter two," he told AAP.

"The first five years were chapter one and we had great success on the field and within the community.

"It (wooden spoon) was a disappointing end to the first chapter but the next chapter is about regenerating the squad and bringing in a whole new ethos.

"These guys get to determine where the club goes to in the future."

[GC_Titans_Fan]

[Princey's Titanz]

teams looking good.

[TITAN PETE]

Very surprised to see how big Sezer is , hope he can play

[Toads]

Geez.. Reading this article has already fired me up for the 2012 season.

[Princey's Titanz]

Very surprised to see how big Sezer is , hope he can play

Maybe his big biceps tells us tht he is going to be the next Cherry Evans?

[DIEHARD]

Love seeing the new class.

That new sponsor on the jersey will take some getting used to! But we are all very accustomed to orange with our existing sponsorship with Jetstar.

[DIEHARD]

Also it'll be easier to say we won't get more spoons if we add two new clubs. Which will likely have some effect on how ultra competitive the NRL is, not much I hope. And there is a heap of things we can do to stop that happening. Just saying.

[Toads]

Love seeing the new class.

That new sponsor on the jersey will take some getting used to! But we are all very accustomed to orange with our existing sponsorship with Jetstar.

I was horrified with the jersey that they revealed earlier this year, with the older iSelect logo, that had the white background. I tend to think this new iSelect logo is a huge improvement on that.

[Princey's Titanz]

Ahahaha in this picture Idris is having an intense stare-off competition with Nate Myles. Loving the team spirit already!

[Chaos]

I was horrified with the jersey that they revealed earlier this year, with the older iSelect logo, that had the white background. I tend to think this new iSelect logo is a huge improvement on that.

Was exciting reading the article...it's a shame Graham is only on for a one year contract.

First time I've seen the jersey...I don't like them at all.
The select background breaks up the jersey into two parts.

[Princey's Titanz]

New Titans Recruits at Skilled Park.

[Toads]

First time I've seen the jersey...I don't like them at all.
The select background breaks up the jersey into two parts.

Yup understandable. I'm hoping they'll resize it and/or reposition it better. I can't say for sure, but I'd imagine there's going to be more changes yet. As there's other sponsors to go on there still.

Whatever happens, I hope they do finish the retail jerseys off completely, compared to the ones this year (2011). As they we're missing sponsors on the sleeves and have the two sponsors on the back, instead of the one. Sorry to say, but I honestly believe we got a halfa**ed retail jerseys this year, when you compare it to the rest of the NRL Teams.

Off Topic: I reckon the Tigers had the best looking home jersey of 2011.

[GC_Titans_Fan]

Maybe his big biceps tells us tht he is going to be the next Cherry Evans?

more of a young Anasta will more energy and more entertaining style of play.

Doesn't mine taking a tackle for the team either, one of the reasons why his running game was one of the best in the NYC.

[Titanic]

The select patch looks like an amateurish afterthought ... surely that can't be the final product ... players look good though :-)