Gold Coast Titans - What went wrong ?

[THE RED ROOSTER]

I was present at the first game played by Gold Coast Titans at Suncorp v St George-Illawarra back in 2006 and have seen the club play at Carrara Stadium and Robina so I feel very paternal towards it and it gives me no pleasure to see the club perceived as the runt of the NRL Litter. A club that once boasted Scott Prince, Preston Campbell and Mat Rogers now perennial cellar dwellers with only one finals appearance since 2010 and the team the only club exclude from the 2020 NRL promotional video

Brad Fittler in the edition of Inside Sport is quoted this about the Gold Coast Titans  “There’s 4.000 people turn up to watch them each week Let’s not call it a success”

In his book, Heartland – How Rugby League explains Queensland – Author Joe Gorman name checks the titans once in passing on page 7 of a 280 page book. There is a page or two on the previous Gold Coast club in its previous incarnations drawing attention to the changes in name and colours and hints that playing so close to the NSW border that perhaps gold coast is not seen as Queenslander enough.

Certainly the big Queensland Derby is between the Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys not the Broncos and the geographically close Gold Coast. I have been to a few of the Brisbane – North Queensland games and can testify to the passion is the game with the Gold Coast anything like it ?

The NFL is the world’s richest sports league, yet there are cities within the US that are resistant to the charms of the NFL where the sport is seen as secondary, Could it also be the case that there are parts of Eastern Australia who may like the NRL but not enough to warrant supporting a team of its own.

Having been to the Gold Coast on many occasions it has always struck me as a tourist resort with a transient population a sort of area without a real centre of that much sense of community. Is there really any rivalry with Brisbane or is the gold coast , only an hour away from central Brisbane by train, basically a Brisbane Suburb

With talk of expansion into Queensland with options at Redcliffe, Ipswich and a second Brisbane team being mooted. Why is Gold Coast not seen as the “second” Brisbane area side ?

Gold Coast cheerleaders set against the backdrop of an empty stand v Canberra 2018

 

[DoubleD]

I wouldn’t pay any attention to what Brad Fittler says. He’s a modern day Gary Schofield. Great player but an idiot off it

[Graham]

Garry Schofield the thinking man's smack in the teeth.

[nadera78]

That picture of the cheerleaders feels misleading - they look like they're walking around the pitch to get to their positions, rather than performing to an empty stand.

[DlEHARD]

Because Brisbane and the Gold Coast are completely different markets and identities.

[THE RED ROOSTER]

In the interests of balance (and not trying to be misleading here...) here are some photos from the first season in 2008 at Robina when the North Queensland Cowboys were the opponents

1.  Full Ground

2. Better Cheersquad

3. But under pressure from North Queensland

The question remains as to where the Gold Coast's fans have gone.

[DeadShotKeen]

Very good post. It's hard for me to say what has gone wrong up there having only watched NRL for 7 years but they have had something of a hoodoo in recent years, what with the "cocaine bust" incident, losing James Roberts to a weird contract discrepancy, Daly Cherry-Evans' signing back-flip and no end of season-ending injuries in pre-season. Someone upstairs seems not to like them for sure.

On a serious note though the Titans' continued top flight existence does starkly highlight the difference between NRL and our very flimsy expansion efforts here in Europe. Clearly the NRL are committed to the Gold Coast "project" and are prepared to underwrite any financial losses (much like happens in the North American sporting leagues) as they rightly see the long-term benefits and bigger picture of having them around. However bad they have been on the pitch since their inception I think it's fair to say that their inclusion in NRL has the wider benefit of increased geographical reach and just a little more variety, both of which will contribute to the league in largely unseen ways such as continued high TV deals and advertising revenues (as well as increased neutral fan interest). I'm sure there are many in the Aussie RL fraternity who sneer at them and would sign off on an extra Sydney team taking their place "just like the olden days", which for sure might increase the supporter base in the short-run but would likely have adverse effects further down the line and could only be seen as a backward, parochial and defeatist move by the sport in Australia as a whole.

In short, the league needs to do whatever is required to make them viable. It's quite possible that in a parallel universe they've been a massive success whilst Melbourne are a laughing stock playing to a half-empty stadium. Quite possibly the only things that have gone wrong are purely RL related issues such as bad coaching appointments, poor player recruitment and being on the wrong side of the good/bad luck divide (as per my opening paragraph) - in other words, those intangibles that essentially make the difference between success and failure in a professional sport in a level playing field franchised sporting league like NRL.

Great signature quotes btw - I think it's fair to say you and me are on the same page politically.

 

[DiddyDave]

I go to Titans games whenever they play at home. I reckon there`s about five thousand loyal supporters who turn up every week,the rest of the crowd made up by whoever the away team is (generally good support for the Broncos,Warriors,Dragons and Eels),and whoever feels like turning up on the day/night. It would appear a lot of people who live on the Coast are from other places,so feel no loyalty to whatever code attempts to start up and survive. National Football,Basketball,two other League sides have all started up over the last thirty odd years and fallen by the wayside,even the Gold Coast Suns AFL club needs massive backing from Melbourne to survive,so it`s all sports really. Yet there are a dozen or so League clubs in the GoldCoast/Tweed Heads area,Palm Beach/Currumbin and Keebra High are always two of the best school teams every year in Australia,so the game`s still popular nonetheless. Obviously the Titans need a few wins under their belt,think they`ve lost thirteen in a row going back to last season,but they now have a strong financial base thanks to the Kelly/Frizzell partnership and I`m sure Justin Holbrook wouldn`t have come here if he thought the club wasn`t in a competitive state. Onward and upward hopefully because the game and Queensland needs an NRL club here.

[DlEHARD]

Titans will also open a new Leagues Club soon which should help anchor the club and offer a place for fans to gather.

https://www.titans.com.au/news/2018/12/04/titans-oxenford-community-club/