Titans coach Neil Henry planning NRL clean-out as club looks to rebuild
Peter Badel The Courier-Mail
August 01, 2015 9:00PM
GOLD Coast hierarchy will embark on the biggest clean-out in the club’s history as part of a cultural overhaul to reignite the Titans as a premiership force.
The Sunday Mail can reveal 14 Titans — more than half the fulltime squad — are playing for their futures at a club tired of floundering in the competition cellar.
Titans coach Neil Henry says the next six weeks is the chance for top-liners to be part of his blueprint for success — starting against Parramatta on Monday night at Cbus Super Stadium.
“We have a number of players off-contract and we’re going into the marketplace,” Henry said.
“The current group have a lot to aim for in the last six weeks.”
The Titans’ recruitment arm will spend the coming months clearing out deadwood.
As part of the shake-up, the Coast’s second-tier salary cap and under-20s system will come under review and the exorbitant, five-year deals tabled under the previous regime will be abandoned.
One frustration for Henry and his management team has been trying to plan ahead while hampered by expensive residual contracts brokered by past administrators.
Henry has shown he is not afraid to wield the axe. During his stint at the Cowboys, Henry purged 16 top-liners from his fulltime squad after North Queensland’s annus horribilis in 2010, when the club finished second last.
Titans players fighting to save their careers include hooker Beau Falloon, Kalifa Fai Fai Loa, David Hala, Kevin Gordon, Daniel Mortimer and Matt Srama. Back-rower Ben Ridge is unwanted for next season, while former Maroons forward David Taylor has permission to negotiate with rival clubs.
Second-tier players such as Christian Hazard, Davin Crampton, Jamie Dowling, Jai Ingram and Chad Redman also face perform-or-perish scenarios as the Titans look to revitalise their roster.
Henry has begun implementing cultural change, signing former Maroons prop David Shillington and Titans foundation hooker Nathan Friend for their 2016 recovery mission.
They will be joined by 30-year-old workhorse Zeb Taia, signed from Super League outfit Les Catalans, while Broncos young gun Ashley Taylor will ink a two-year deal.
The Titans have another three potential recruits on their radar, but the club’s salary-cap latitude will hinge on the number of players jettisoned over the next month.
“We have six games to go and this is an opportunity for the current roster to win some games and show us what they’ve got,” Henry said.
“The guys off-contract know who they are and the best thing they can do is play good football.
“For any club out of finals contention, it’s a test of character on a weekly basis. I need to see that over the next six weeks. I want to see the resolve from the players to get out there, fight and get some wins.
“We have some room to move in the salary cap and the funds to attract a few more players. We’re trying to build again.”
Since the Titans’ charge to the grand-final qualifier in 2010, the club has become an NRL minnow. They crashed to the wooden spoon in 2011 and have won just 42 of their past 114 games for a 36 per cent success rate.
The Titans have attracted criticism for signing veterans Friend and Shillington, but Henry says the duo will play influential roles in redefining the Coast’s culture.
“Their behaviours are what any club needs,” Henry said.
“David is a thorough professional in how he approaches his footy and ‘Friendy’ looks after his body, it’s a testament to their longevity in the game.
“We’ve lost a lot of senior guys in recent times like Luke Bailey, Ash Harrison, Mark Minichiello and Nate Myles is leaving (to join Manly), so David and Friendy will add balance to our group.
“It will take a while to turn this club around. We’ve been on a constrained budget for a few years, but we are looking at our high-performance unit and hopefully we’ll keep the players we want to keep.”
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