Hala out to prove he isn't a dud buy for the Titans

[Titan4Life]

I am not a dud buy: Titans NRL recruit
Laine Clark
November 12, 2014, 3:25 pm

He was known as the Brisbane Broncos' strongest man.

But Gold Coast recruit David Hala reckons he won't be hitting the Titans weights any time soon as he looks to avoid another tag - "dud buy".

Titans recruit David Hala has said he has a lot to prove and isn't a dud buy for the NRL club.
"I have a lot to prove," the injury-plagued Hala said.

"I have to train hard and get the respect of the boys, have the belief that I can punch out the minutes, that I wasn't just a dud buy."

Hala, 25, held the Broncos' bench press record of 195kg.

But Hala reckoned he could afford to avoid the gym for months as he tackled his first full pre-season ahead of his seventh year in the NRL.

"I can afford not to do gym for four weeks or two months or something," he smiled.

"I've just got to keep running, as long as I can - I have to get that conditioning back."

Remarkably, injuries - warranting 10 operations - have restricted Hala to just 37 games for Brisbane since his 2009 debut.

It ensured that even with Martin Kennedy and Ben Hannant cut, Hala was so far down the pecking order in the Brisbane pack that he was told he could look elsewhere by returning Broncos coach Wayne Bennett.

"It all happened pretty quickly," he said.

"I was a Bronco on Monday and then Tuesday morning got a call from the manager saying I had a couple of offers on the table.

"I talked to Wayne and asked where I sat in the pecking order and he was really honest."

Asked about Bennett's Broncos clean-out, which has also claimed Josh Hoffman and Ben Barba, Hala said: "It's a big change but it's totally on Wayne's shoulders.

"He is bringing what he wants to the club and what he thinks is right - I wish them the best of luck."

Due to his horror injury run, Hala initially accepted a downgraded one-year deal for 2015 in order to stay at the Broncos under former coach Anthony Griffin.

But Hala eventually walked as the returning Bennett cleared cap space for Darius Boyd's arrival and a forward, with Dragons hardman Trent Merrin linked to the club.

These days, Hala just wants to put Brisbane behind him.

Asked if he was looking forward to playing Brisbane, the unlucky Hala quipped: "I am looking forward to playing anybody actually."

[Titan4Life]

Hala to prove he's no 'dud buy'
By Tony Webeck, Chief Queensland Correspondent
Wed, Nov 12, 2014 - 10:00PM

In many ways David Hala's first day as a Titan on Monday was indicative of his stop-start NRL career to date.

First, he impressed Gold Coast co-captain Nate Myles with his work in the weights room but when the team hit the running track later that afternoon Hala quickly found himself dropping behind the rest of the pack.

After making his NRL debut in 2009 for the Broncos at just 20 years of age, Hala has been restricted to just 37 games over the past six seasons due to injuries and large chunks of the season being spent playing with Redcliffe in the Intrust Super Cup.

Famous at the Broncos for setting the club's bench-press record of 195 kilograms 12 months ago, Hala knows that it is the kilometres he puts into his legs that will determine whether he becomes a valuable addition to the Titans' stocks.

"I've got a lot to prove. I've got to train really hard and get the respect of all the boys and trainers and have that belief that I can punch out the minutes and that I wasn't just a dud buy," Hala said ahead of yet another gruelling fitness session.

"I've just got to run, just got to keep running for as long as I can. I can afford not to do gym for four weeks or two months or something like that. It's just all about running and getting that conditioning side up and getting to where all the boys are, the conditioning standard for NRL.

"I'm going to bring a lot of impact and hopefully with an injury-free season I'll be able to get those 'kays' under my legs and punch out the minutes in a game.

"With Redcliffe, it's totally different from NRL standard, I was playing around 60-65 minutes for Redcliffe and not getting many minutes in the first grade side.

"It's totally up to the coach how he wants to play me but in Redcliffe I played plenty of minutes and I'm looking forward to getting those minutes out in the NRL."

Hala caught the eye in Round 16 when he scored two tries for the Broncos against the Sharks but that was just one of seven games in the NRL in 2014.

He spent the majority of the year punching out hit-ups and tackles for the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Intrust Super Cup and said it was a frank discussion with returning Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett that convinced him his future laid elsewhere.

"It all happened pretty quickly. I was a Bronco two weeks ago on a Monday and then on Tuesday morning I got a call from my manager saying there were a couple of offers on the table," said the 25-year-old.

"I just talked to Wayne and asked him where I sat on the pecking order. He was just really honest and we talked it out and we came to a mutual agreement that I was allowed to go and talk to other clubs and search elsewhere.

"I saw a lot of senior players retiring at the end of the year so I thought I might have a good chance to get a start at Gold Coast and just put Brisbane behind me.

"Brisbane had a lot of quality front-rowers – and I'm not saying Gold Coast don't – but it's a young side and now with those guys that have retired, hopefully an opportunity comes up."

Former Broncos teammate Josh Hoffman will join Hala at the Titans upon his completion of Four Nations duties with New Zealand but there is one other familiar face in the squad in Nate Myles.

Myles was a seasoned campaigner at the Roosters when Hala was enticed to Sydney in 2008 and is excited to see what the 114-kilogram monster can bring to the team.

"I have played against him and I was also at the Roosters when he was coming through before he went to Brisbane and he's definitely a big man," Myles said.

"His biceps are like quads at the moment so hopefully he brings that every day. The way he was training this morning in the weights room was pretty impressive.

"He's a very hard man to stop and he's going to be good for us. Hopefully he'll bring that punch and that energy. There are a lot of new faces here at the moment and they're all bringing plenty of energy which is great."