Stability and a proven coach: Titans’ big calls providing the best chance of success

The Gold Coast Titans have never known true success in the NRL.

Since their addition to the competition in 2007, the club have played in just four finals series, and have only finished in the top four twice, with two other seasons resulting in wooden spoons.

The Robina-based outfit have tried plenty - they have been through four full-time head coaches, multiple captains and recruitment strategies and plenty of players on the park.

None of it has worked to this point though, and it only will help feed the narrative of sports critics that the Gold Coast is the place where sport goes to die.

But that may not be the case anymore, with the Titans quietly going about securing their long-term future with a number of pieces of shrewd business, but business that has also been kept relatively quiet, stopping a public circus developing, as it tends to do around just about every transfer, signing or re-signing made in the NRL in the modern era.

The quietest of those was the signing of Des Hasler, but it may also be the most important.

Titans coaches in the club's history - full-time ones at least - have been John Cartwright, Neil Henry, Garth Brennan and Justin Holbrook.

Cartwright, the club's inaugural coach, was the most successful of the lot, taking the Titans to a third-placed finish in 2009 and a fourth-placed finish the season after.

The Titans couldn't capitalise though. They picked up the dreaded wooden spoon in 2011, and missed the finals the following three years, with Cartwright sacked in mid-2014 for the appointment of Neil Henry.

As experienced as Henry was, he only managed an eighth-placed finish in his second full season in charge before being dumped during the 2017 season.

Enter Garth Brennan. He didn't even last two seasons, sacked in mid-2019 with the club picking up the spoon that year before Justin Holbrook arrived in 2020.

Under pressure from day dot, Holbrook snuck the Titans into the finals in 2021, but sat in the bottom four during 2022 before being axed midway through this year for Hasler.

And while it was reportedly a performance-related clause in Holbrook's contract that allowed the move to happen, if Hasler was on the market and willing to make the shift to the glitter strip, it's a move the Titans simply had to make on multiple fronts.

Hasler certainly didn't have things all his own way during his last stint at the Sea Eagles - but some of that was outside of his control.

The roster at the Sea Eagles was far too top heavy, and still is with Anthony Seibold struggling to produce anything better in terms of results throughout his first year in charge.

Hasler of course has copped criticism for what transpired at the Bulldogs following his exit salary cap wise, but he won't have a chance to make those mistakes at the Titans because of the moves the club have made in locking up all the key parts of their squad long-term.

At the time of publication, the Titans have an almost full squad for 2024, but more importantly, 12 players are signed all the way through to the end of 2026.

That gives Hasler three years to work with the nucleus of a squad which should have achieved a lot more than they actually have this year with plenty of talented youngsters either among that group or yet to make a call - talented youngsters Hasler should get the most out of.

It's easy to forget that Hasler is a two-time NRL premiership winner as a coach. It's that exact experience the Titans have never really had, but also that exact experience, if Hasler simply focuses on coaching his team and not worrying about contracts, which could make the Gold Coast a force in the coming years.

Quite evidently, the largest of those signings is that of Tino Fa'asuamaleaui. Already the club captain and a Queensland State of Origin automatic selection at just 23, the forward is signed until the end of 2033.

The deal's length will be debated by anyone and everyone over the coming months, but ultimately, in the next three or four years, having him locked up to a new deal is going to be better than not. The deal also removes the two years worth of player options in 2025 and 2026 that were hanging over the Titans' head.

Fa'asuamaleaui's new deal also came with confirmation that David Fifita will honour his contract through to the end of 2026 - and based on his form this year, that is a wonderful move.

Winning back his Origin spot, Fifita has been downright damaging for the Gold Coast this campaign, and if he can keep that form, then he is going to make everyone around him look excellent.

Outside of the two marquee players, the Titans have also locked up star fullback AJ Brimson, Jayden Campbell, fringe Origin player Beau Fermor, Jaimin Jolliffe, former Manly centre Brian Kelly, try-scoring machine Alofiana Khan-Pereira, explosive youngster Keano Kini, former Newcastle hooker Chris Randall, powerhouse winger Phillip Sami and Sam Verrills through to the end of 2026.

In doing so, the Titans have locked up almost half of their squad for the next three years, but every one of those players can justify why they have been signed long-term.

While Hasler will have questions on his hands - like how to utilise Jayden Campbell and Keano Kini with AJ Brimson locking down the number one jumper, they are good questions and headaches to have.

All three of those players have the ability to make the Titans better in one way or another.

Of the other players, Jolliffe has turned into a strong option in the middle for the Titans and will only improve under Hasler, while Khan-Pereira should go to another level, particularly defensively under the two-time premiership-winning coach.

Fermor is a star in the making and at one point last year pushed Fifita off his preferred side of the field - a future Origin star, Fermor has missed this year injured, but if he returns anywhere near his best, he will be a dangerous option.

Verrills and Randall being signed gives the Titans excellent depth in the number nine jumper, with Verrills in particular looking strong when he has played this year, to the point you'd have to imagine the Roosters are regretting their own decision.

Sami has become one of the more consistent outside backs in the competition while being able to play centre or wing, and Kelly has a high ceiling that, for the most part, hasn't been recognised yet.

It's a talented group who should all improve under Hasler, and while there are other contract decisions to be made, particularly around Tanah Boyd, Moeaki Fotuaika, Thomas Weaver (who debuts this weekend) and the underwhelming Isaac Liu, the Titans can plan for the future with relative security around who their squad will be.

Both Boyd and Weaver are former junior Origin players who could well kick on to another level under Hasler.

No mass upheaval should suit Hasler but so should a well-balanced roster. While Fa'asuamaleaui and Fifita are on big money, it won't be the same situation as it was at Manly, where the Trbojevic brothers, Daly Cherry-Evans and a handful of other players potentially stopped the development and upgrades of others in the squad - the same problems are being seen now at Manly following the exit of the Fainu brothers to the Wests Tigers.

There is little doubt the Titans have made a series of big calls in recent times, but they are future-shaping.

If Hasler works, then expect the Gold Coast to be in the real picture of premiership contenders in the coming years.

The move might seem like a risk, but it's one the Titans had to take if they want to prove sport doesn't die on the coast.