Seven Titans staff axed from club
Travis Meyn | 12:01am November 1, 2013
NEW Gold Coast Titans boss Graham Annesley has wielded the axe, sacking seven staff yesterday in a last-ditch bid to rescue the Gold Coast club.
Annesley's shock ''restructure'' came a month after the former NSW sports minister took up the chief executive officer's role.
Two football development staff were ditched along with three sponsorship and two marketing employees.
The club's revenue-raising departments have been merged and will be managed by a head of sales and marketing in a newly designed role.
Annesley, a former chief operating officer of the NRL, has a wealth of contacts in the sports industry and could look south to bring in better credentialled staff.
Annesley said he was determined to to turn around the club both on and off the field.
''I wasn't recruited to come here and do the same old thing,'' he said. ''I've got the responsibility for making this place successful long-term.
''Having been here a month, the structure I'd taken over was not the best structure for the business, going forward.
''We need to set the place up to give us the best possible chance of success in the future.''
The Titans went through a financial crisis last year with debts nearly causing the folding of the NRL club.
Staff cuts were made earlier this year and Annesley said reducing costs was a focus of his.
''Everyone has to live within their means, there's no question about that,'' he said.
''This is not just about cutting costs. We've been recruiting at the same time and we're going to continue to recruit.
''Our whole reason for existence is to give our football team the best possible opportunity on the field.''
Annesley summoned staff to a 9.30am meeting yesterday at the club's Robina base to deliver the news.
''These things are never easy. It's a major restructure, there's a level of uncertainty and it's an emotional time,'' he said.
''I've made it very clear to the staff I think this place has enormous potential and I wouldn't have come here otherwise.
''I believe the structure we've put in place today gives us the best chance to maximise that potential.
''Everyone is going to clearly understand what their role is and be accountable.''
The club recently appointed sacked North Queensland Cowboys coach Neil Henry as an assistant to John Cartwright and appointed Ben Woolf as full-time under-20s coach.