Originally Posted by
JunctionBlock
To whom it may concern,
Now we have come to the end of the 2019 season, I wanted to take this opportunity to personally thank you, our Gold Coast Titans Members, for your on-going support of the Club this year.
There is no getting away from the fact that this season has been an extremely challenging and disappointing year.
We began 2019 with high levels of optimism and expectation, but it quickly became apparent that things were not working, and had to be fixed. Changes had to be made to create a Club and deliver results that Titans Members and fans deserve.
Since January, the Titans have gone through an extraordinary rebuild to ensure success on and off the field. Among these changes were:
• The appointment of Steve Mitchell as Titans CEO
• The role of Head of Football being absorbed into the brief of Head of Performance and Culture, Mal Meninga
• The restructuring of the Football Department
• The appointment of Justin Holbrook as Titans Head Coach for 2020, with more Football staff appointments to be announced shortly
• The appointment of a new Head of Recruitment
• The appointment of a new Head of Commercial Operations, one of four new appointments in the Club’s commercial division that will be completed in the next few weeks
• The strengthening of our junior pathways programs, and our relationships with local clubs and high schools
• Renewed emphasis on the recruitment and development of local juniors, headlined by the acquisition of players like Tanah Boyd and Toby Sexton, and the retention of players such as Moeaki Fotuaika
• The establishment of the Club’s Values and Mission Statement, under the direction of Mal Meninga.
While the results from the NRL squad were not at the standard we expected in 2019, the Titans enjoyed major successes across various other areas of the business, particularly in the area of community support, where the Titans enjoy a “best in class” reputation for our dedication to our city and its people.
Among these major successes were:
• The inaugural Titans Community Kick-In, which raised more than $60,000 for local charities and programs that support people in need on the Gold Coast and Northern Rivers of NSW
• The Titans’ two feeder clubs, Burleigh Bears and Tweed Heads Seagulls, both making the semi-finals of the Intrust Super Cup competition
• Success in our junior development systems, with Tweed Heads Seagulls winning the Under-18 Mal Meninga Cup in the Queensland Rugby League, and our Under-16 Northern Rivers Titans winning the Andrew Johns Cup in the NSW Rugby League
• The best female rugby league talent in the region playing under the Titans banner for the first time, as more than 200 athletes applied to play in the inaugural Titan’s Women’s invitational match
• The first competitive games for our league-leading Physical Disabilities Rugby League team, including a match against British touring side Wakefield Trinity
• The creation of the inaugural Gold Coast Titans Under-14 Development Program for boys and girls
• Gold Coast Titans' School to Work and Deadly Futures program participant Holly Summers named as the NRL Community Young Person of the Year
• Acknowledging the contribution of rugby league’s local unsung heroes with the Titans Community Awards
These are all significant victories for the Titans, and for the Gold Coast and Northern Rivers communities that we are proud to serve.
They are also significant victories for you. As a Titans Member, you are a part of our family, and a contributor to the fantastic work that is being done in this club every single day.
In recent times, people outside the club has used the NRL team’s results as an excuse to criticise the Titans, our city and its people – saying the club should be relocated because the Gold Coast is not deserving of, or big enough to support, professional rugby league.
The Titans are not moving anywhere. We believe in this region and its people the same way they believe in us. We are Australia’s sixth-largest city. How dare anyone suggest that the Gold Coast is not worthy of an NRL club?
No one is happy with the team’s results this year, but the hard work and in-roads being achieved off the field are laying the foundations for that on-field success.
Further reasons for optimism are easy to find. In recent times, titans.com.au has featured articles about two of our rival clubs that are worth consideration for those who may be hesitating about renewing or becoming Titans Members in 2020.
The first was about the North Queensland Cowboys who, like the Gold Coast come from a rugby league heartland with a massive junior base.
It took the Cowboys 10 years to play in their first finals series, and 20 years to win their first premiership.
Next year will be the Titans’ 14th season in the NRL. The lesson from the Cowboys is one of patience.
The second story was about the Penrith Panthers who won the wooden spoon in 2001. But, just two years later on the back of a team built around local juniors, the Panthers won the 2003 NRL premiership.
The lesson from the Panthers is that things can change in rugby league very quickly.
Success for the Titans will not be because of one individual, it will be because everyone put their shoulder to the wheel, and played their role.
By becoming a Titans Member in 2020, you will not only contribute to the revenue needed to fund our Community and Football programs, but you will send a message that the people of this city deserve to have an NRL team of our own – and that together we will achieve what the critics say is impossible.
We need you standing beside us, shoulder to shoulder, as we take on the giants of the competition for the pride of our city.
We need you to stand up to be counted, because we are counting on you.
I thank you again for you support of the Titans in 2019, and look forward to you standing with us in 2020.
Best regards,
Dennis Watt