The Gold Coast Titans today paid tribute to former Deputy Premier Terry Mackenroth as "a great Queenslander and one of the true giants of modern rugby league in this state."
Executive Chairman Dennis Watt said Mr Mackenroth, who died on Monday, aged 68, had left an indelible footprint on the game from grassroots through to elite level.
"As a QRL director, one of his proudest achievements was in the protection of grassroots as part of the formation of the independent Australian Rugby League Commission in 2012. As he always did throughput his political life, Terry was determined to be a voice for the voiceless and with current QRL chairman Bruce Hatcher, he helped ensure grassroots' development would always remain a priority of the game."
Watt said that the Titans were particularly grateful to Mr Mackenroth for his driving role in the State Government decision in 2005 to provide the club's home ground at Robina, now called Cbus Stadium.
"It was one of Terry's last great projects as a politician as he retired only a couple of months later. The Titans' bid to join the NRL was contingent on the construction of a new home ground and the NRL green light was given after Terry, the State Government and the Gold Coast City Council committed to the $160m project. Quite simply, the Titans would not be here without Terry Mackenroth. He well understood the power of sport to connect and inspire communities and although he was a passionate Broncos' man he never stopped supporting the Titans."
Watt said that as a former Broncos chairman and director he also acknowledged Mr Mackenroth's powerful advocacy in ensuring the $280m reconstruction of the club's home ground of Suncorp Stadium in 2003.
"That investment ensured that Suncorp Stadium offers the best rugby league viewing and playing experience in the world. It has also underpinned the financial strength of the Broncos as a powerhouse of the NRL competition."
Watt said that Mr Mackenroth had also had much to do with with Queensland's modern dominance in State of Origin, firstly as a political leader ensuring that the development of Queensland Emerging Origin squads fell under the umbrella of the Queensland Academy of Sport and then as a QRL director (2006-2017), where he worked hard to develop the business and the morale of the team.
"He was a well-loved and highly respected individual within the sport and the wider community. Terry was an action man with a massive heart."
Watt said the Titans expressed their deepest sympathies to wife Mrs Mary Mackenroth and to the extended Mackenroth family.
