Rugby league icon Phil Gould says Gold Coast needs to change its approach to recruitment in order to climb out of the NRL doldrums.
The Titans are reeling from a 30-4 thumping at the hands of North Queensland in round seven, and sit 12th on the ladder with two wins to their name for the season.
Since its inception in 2007, the club has featured in finals four times, but only twice since 2011. Last year they were heavily tipped to start an upward trajectory towards premiership contention, following the recruitment of David Fifita on $1.25 million a season.
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Fifita, though, has become the main target of criticism at the club. His ability to steamroll opponents and score freak tries is often cancelled out by his ineffectiveness for large periods of the game.
The Titans as a team have garnered a reputation as an exciting attacking outfit, but struggle in defence.
“The Titans have had the same Achilles heel for as long as I can remember – they love playing football with the ball, and they’re not so keen on it without it. They just do what they have to,” Gould told Wide World of Sports’ Six Tackles with Gus podcast.
“They’ve always bought attacking players, players who can score them points. I don’t know if they’ve ever bought people with a view towards building a grit, and a value for defence.
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“The hardest part of the game is defence, therefore you need to meet it head on. You can’t avoid it.
“I’ve always had a theory – if you want to get out of the cellar, you need to learn to score points; if you want to win a comp, you need to be able to defend.”
Gould wants Gold Coast to adjust its approach to recruitment and bring in tough experienced players who will drill defensive standards – among others – into the rest of the squad.
He says even the presence of one such player can have a deep long-term impact on a club.
“The most recent example would be (Sharks recruit) Dale Finucane. Kevin Campion, Jeremy Smith, Chris Mortimer – a player that comes in and demands respect for defence, and toughness, and resilience,” Gould said.
“Those sort of blokes, that leadership bloke who is not about stepping, and running, and passing, and scoring tries, and then having a rest when the opposition has the ball.
“James Tamou was a bloke we bought for Panthers at a crucial time in the lives of (James) Fisher-Harris, and Isaah Yeo, and Moses Leota, and Viliame Kikau. A real hardnut who comes in and says ‘when it gets tough here, this is how we do it’.
“The Titans just don’t have that in them, they haven’t ever really recruited someone like that.
“You need that sort of person in your side, and I just don’t know if the Titans have valued that in their recruitment. Everyone they’ve signed they’ve gone for point-scoring, and skill, and flare, and they’re not going to develop that grit until that happens.”
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