Eels Blogs

Cast your mind back to the 2nd of August 2016. For the Gold Coast Titans, this was their day in the sun, they’d at last signed a rugby league Messiah who would bring long awaited success to the Gold Coast. They had signed an international superstar, Jarryd Hayne. 

A two-time Dally M medalist, State of Origin and International representative. At the time the Titans as a team were placed 7th on the NRL  ladder, just over a month away from making a return to finals for the first time in several years. The addition of this new athlete surely meant that on-field and corporate success was finally going to be achieved on the Glitter Strip? 

Wrong, in reality, the addition of Hayne imploded the culture of the Titans, and now, just over 12 months later, the Titans sit 14th on the NRL ladder and are reportedly just days away from sacking coach Neil Henry due to a feud with the superstar fullback. So where did it all go wrong? From the moment the ink dried on the $1.2 million contract, there was always something off about Hayne’s arrival on the Gold Coast. In the press conference in which he announced his signing.

Hayne also expressed his devastation at not being able to return to his former club the Parramatta Eels, questions around a return to the Eels were always going to be asked, but Hayne’s replies made it clear where his heart lay.

The meeting

Both Neil Henry and Jarryd Hayne met with club CEO Graham Annesley on Monday afternoon to discuss the deafening media speculation around their relationship. The meeting was built up as a Henry v Hayne affair, with only one’s job expected to survive. The board adjourned the meeting on Monday, however, post-meeting it surfaced online that the board had come to the decision to sack Henry, and would announce such after the teams match against Parramatta on Thursday night,  a move done to provide as little disruption as possible to the playing group. 

The primary reason the board will choose Henry to move on has to be financial. Regardless of person, whoever the Titans chose to remove from the club would have to be paid out, as both are currently contracted until the end of 2018. With that, the coach’s salary of $400,000 annually appears as pittance when compared with Hayne’s $1.2 million. Sponsorship also plays a role, with key Titans sponsor ‘Trip-a-Deal’ contributing to Hayne’s salary and the club unlikely to want to aggravate its sponsor.  

Rift in the playing group

Despite today alleging that himself and Hayne have no feud, the presence of such active media coverage and the need for intervention from the board says otherwise to Henry’s claims. But if Henry has supposedly lost the dressing room, Hayne can not be the only player unhappy with his coach. Enter Ash Taylor, it’s common knowledge that Taylor has been touted as possibly one of the best players of the next generation, what’s also common knowledge is his close relationship with fellow Titan, Tyrone Roberts. 

Throughout 2017, Henry has wrestled with what is the clubs first choice halves pairing, with rookie sensation Kane Elgey returning from injury. It’s no secret that Taylor’s preferred halves partner is Roberts, the two being close friends, however, that isn’t necessarily the way Henry saw it, optioning to play the Elgey/Taylor combination for the majority of this season. Yes, Roberts filled in with other positions throughout the year, but when the team has been fully fit he has been relegated to the bench. One can only assume that Taylor was less than pleased with the lack of game time in the halves Roberts was given, and most tellingly, stood by Hayne’s side as he approached his meeting with the board on Monday.

Therefore the Titans, who are desperate to keep Taylor at the club amid strong interest from rival clubs, could perhaps be swayed by the young halfback, should he be a part of playing group that has turned its back on Henry. Despite this though, just last week Titans enforcer Jarrod Wallace spoke to the media and affirmed that Henry still had the support of the playing group, in fact looking unhappy at claims he’d lost the dressing room. Alas, the rift inside Titans camp. Certain players support coach Henry, and certain players don’t, such has been made painfully clear.

What now?

So should Henry indeed be sacked, have the Titans done the right thing? Financially, definitely. However in terms of what is best for the club, maybe not. Henry last year took the Titans to the top 8 with a roster most experts tipped to finish in last place. While Hayne has shown glimpses of the player he was before he left the NRL without displaying any form of consistency. The Titans may be setting themselves a dangerous precedent should they allow high profile players to dictate who coaches the side. Henry himself may be attempting a last minute attempt to save his job by swapping Elgey to the bench and Roberts into the halves for this weeks match, but it could be too late. Of course, Henry may not be sacked, both may see out their contracts with the Titans, but the repercussions whichever way you look aren’t good. Annesley wasn’t lying when he labeled it a “very complex issue.” 

Titans take on the Eels 7:50pm Thursday, your move fellas.