That’s what the courier mail is saying and knocked back the Titans offer and Mal.
Gee Mal has been the real drawcard of attracting players to the club
Can someone please post the article from the courier mail about mal telling the players to shape up or ship out
The Gold Coast Titans have been put on notice, with rugby league Immortal Mal Meninga declaring new contracts won’t be offered to underperforming players as the club weighs up a $3 million roster purge.
The Titans are anchored to the bottom of the NRL ladder after three rounds following Friday’s 36-6 defeat to North Queensland in Townsville.
The club has suffered three emphatic defeats to start 2020, going down to the Raiders (18 points), Eels (40 points) and Cowboys (30 points) under new coach Justin Holbrook.
With 10 players off-contract at season’s end, the Titans have a golden opportunity to overhaul the squad that collected last year’s wooden spoon.
Captains Ryan James and Kevin Proctor, former NSW Origin hooker Nathan Peats and all-time leading tryscorer Anthony Don are among the players fighting for new deals.
Titans co-captain Kevin Proctor is playing for his Coast career this season.
However reputations will count for little when it comes to the negotiating table.
Meninga, the Titans’ head of performance and culture, said the players had to prove they were worthy of contract offers.
“All the players are fully aware they’ve got to play well to get another contract,” he told The Sunday Mail.
“That’s the way it is at the moment. It puts the club in a good position.
“We want to see players playing well and with strong belief in each other. We want them to be competitive.
“If they do that they deserve a contract. If they don’t, that’s the way it is.”
The Titans will lose Queensland Origin star Jai Arrow to South Sydney next season and the club’s only confirmed 2021 recruit at this stage is rising Storm sensation Tino Fa’asuamaleaui.
Meninga has highlighted Broncos young gun David Fifita as his prime recruitment target and the Titans are also on the hunt for an experienced leader.
Complicating the recruitment and retention decisions are the fact the Intrust Super Cup season has been abandoned for 2020 due to COVID-19.
Club captain James, the Titans’ longest-serving player ever, will miss the entire 2020 season following knee surgery and Meninga said the players’ input around the club would not be ignored.
“It’s not really fair at the moment because only 17 players can play,” he said.
“It won’t be a fair and equitable opportunity to prove yourself to get a new contract.
“It’s what you do around the club, team and how you handle yourself over this period of time that’s going to hold people in good stead and help us make good decisions.
“It’s not just about playing. It’s what they do around the club and their behaviour around the team that’s really important.”
Nathan Peats needs to show something on the paddock.
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With the Titans on a 14-game losing streak and nearing 12 months without a win in the NRL, albeit with an extra two-month break, former St Helens coach mentor Holbrook said his focus was on the field.
“I haven’t looked that far in advance,” he said when asked about his off-contract players.
“I’m sure it’s on the players’ minds.
“But for me it’s about picking the best side, that’s my main focus. All of that stuff is up to the *individuals and managers to worry about.”
I thought we had 14 coming off contract.
That article says 10.
He's played 8 NRL games. Is that really worth 700k for 4 years?
Whatever happened to having to earn your keep?
I don't care what the Warriors were offering him. There's no way he's worth anywhere near 700k now, and probably won't be in another year or two either. If he turns out to be yet another dudd signing by us then we're stuck with him for another 3 years. Fantastic.
What has this kid done in his 8 NRL matches coming off the bench to deserve a bigger paycheck than someone like Mo?
Sorry, I'm just very weary of falling for the same trap...offering players overs only for them not to perform.
I hope this post bites me in the a$$ and he turns out to be a superstar...but I won't be holding my breath.
Last edited by gotitans101_; 31-05-20 at 04:25 PM.
How many would you want to resign.. Lisone is doing well.. maybe hipgrave.. possibly proctor on a cheaper deal..
Christ mate. I'm all for holding the club accountable regarding player movement but I don’t think this is it.
Who would you have preferred we spent 700K on anyway? Perhaps overpaying for another veteran or mid-level player to only play below their pay check? Or put it aside for a ‘marquee’ guy? Because we all know how that has worked for us.
I can’t really fault the Tino signing personally, I liked how they identified someone that they obviously believe can be a cornerstone for this franchise for the next decade, but I really like how with the Tino (and even Beau Fermor) signings, that they’re taking the approach of handing an opportunity to a young, high potential, but also good pedigree type of player/s into the starting 17, if not round one next year, certainly eventually. We’ve seen it with Jai Arrow, even Ash Taylor and Jarrod Wallace originally, that there is value in taking a punt on someone like that. I think Tino is in the same category of these guys at the time of when they signed with us although maybe less accomplished, certainly, has that same potential if not more in terms of his physical gifts, and personally don’t think we overpaid for him at all, especially if he starts next year (like others here have said he will). 700K per season for a 20 year old international, future Maroon isn’t a terrible investment, especially considering the talent this guy has. If it ends up costing us a Tyrone Roberts or a Kevin Proctor signature then I’m not sure many tears will be shed.
I haven’t seen as much of him as others have here but from what I’ve seen, all the tools are there. 20 year old 6’6” 115 kg back-rowers with the speed that he possesses don’t grow on trees. He breaks tackles very easily and has no trouble bending defensive lines, something we haven’t had on the edge in forever it seems (Dave Taylor maybe? haha), his defence looks fine, he could be quite raw in terms of his offloading abilities. With the new 6 again rules there’s no reason he couldn’t average 150-200 metres a game with increased touches, a very unique talent that i’m glad the Titans were able to pickup and one of the very few reasons i’m excited for next season.
Maybe he bombs out completely but im not sure if this would ever be a signing you could be upset at the Titans for.
Only ones i'd certainly look to re-sign are Hipgrave and James, the rest are perfectly fine on cheap deals if nothing else becomes available but I wouldnt pay any of them real money.
Last edited by NZTITAN; 31-05-20 at 09:25 PM.
The benefit is we will be able to retain who we want for peanuts as I doubt any other club will come hunting for them, and if they do they won't be offering big money.
Personally i feel we need to gut the squad and bring in new players with new mindsets. The existing ones have that mentality that we will always end up losing and it's a very hard thing to change without removing a fair chick of the starting side.
I just had a browse through the players off contract at end of 2020 and drew up a list of players I think we should consider:
Corey Oates
Raymond Faitala-Mariner
Corey Harawira-Naera (forgiveness required...)
Jayson Bukuya (very underrated bench player)
Max King (bring him home)
Christian Welch (he was already looking likely to leave the Storm until he did his ACL)
Patrick Herbert
Isaiah Papali'i
Nathaniel Roache
Herman Ese'ese
John Asiata
Jordan McLean
Reuben Cotter (big wraps on this kid and he will be looking for a home with Reece Robson taking his place)
Tom Opacic
Elijah Taylor (budget Jai Arrow for a year or two, brings leadership qualities with him and would be a hit with all the Kiwis on the GC)
Brian To'o (the speed we lack in our backline)
Alex Johnston (not a world beater but reliable and can slot in at fullback)
Jack de Belin (just kidding)
I left David Fifita off the list because obviously we are already trying to get him. I also left Jake Turpin off because I thought he had already re-signed with the Broncos but if not then I'd love to get him or Matt Parcell. Parcell in particular I think would be absolutely devastating with the 6 again rule change.
A potentially controversial idea I would like to throw out there is Jack Bird on a short-term deal. He will be the hungriest player in the NRL next year and his value will have dropped immensely given his injury history. He can play anywhere in the backline and at his best he's one of the most destructive ball runners in the league. With Brimson at fullback, Bird could slot into that right centre position.
Another potentially out there idea is the Morris bros for 1 year to show our kids how it's done before they ride off into the sunset. Bloody hell I've loved those two their whole careers and it's not like we don't have a wing and centre spot free. I think a lack of experienced blokes leading the way both on and off the field is our biggest issue right now.
Thoughts?