Gold Coast Titans cult hero Kevin Gordon wants to leave club
- TRAVIS MEYNTOM BOSWELL
- GOLD COAST BULLETIN
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2015 12:00AM
Kevin Gordon in action for Titans feeder club Burleigh in the Intrust Super Cup this year. Picture: Regi Varghese
HE was once labelled the fastest man in the NRL but Titans winger Kevin “Flash” Gordon is about to walk away from the game.
Gordon has told the Titans he intends to retire and wants to negotiate an agreement for him to leave the Gold Coast.At 25 and with 118 NRL appearances under his belt, Gordon should be entering the prime of his career. But he has struggled to overcome knee and hip injuries in recent years and fell out of favour with coach Neil Henry this season, playing just six NRL games.The Titans will hold their annual awards presentation, the Paul Broughton Medal, tonight but Gordon isn’t expected to attend given he has been holidaying in Europe.Gordon is a unique character, spending much of his time creating music and filming videos like his magic carpet spin-off which was watched by more than two million people.
He played NRL in Round 1 but then suffered a broken nose in a freak training accident and didn’t return to the top grade for nine weeks.Gordon didn’t play more than two successive games in the NRL this season and only scored one try.Gordon is contracted to the Titans next year on a deal worth more than $300,000 and it’s possible he could receive a portion of that as a payout to leave given the club was keen to move him on.Gordon was one of the most exciting wingers in the NRL when he burst on to the scene in 2009.His speed was unrivalled but he never regained it after having a knee reconstruction in 2011. He is the club’s second highest tryscorer of all-time with his 58 four-pointers just behind David Mead’s 60.Mead is expected to figure in the voting for the player of the year award tonight after a consistent season in which he played 22 games.Five-eighth Aidan Sezer, who will head to Canberra next season, was arguably the Titans’ best player when he was on the field but injury restricted him to 18 matches.Centre James Roberts, who equalled Mead’s record of 16 tries in a season, and prop Luke Douglas are other contenders for the award.Fullback William Zillman said the consistency of hard-working forward Douglas could earn him the top gong.“One of our best players was probably Luke Douglas,” Zillman said.“He played every game and was very consistent throughout the whole season.“Guys like that are generally the type of guys who win those sorts of awards .“Guys that you can rely on week-to-week and that is Luke Douglas for us.”Rising halfback Kane Elgey looks a certainty for the club’s rookie of the year after standout debut NRL season.Other awards to be presented tonight include try of the year and NYC Player of the Year.