Departing interim coach Craig Hodges says being able to coach the Titans at the back end of this season was a dream come true.
Hodges says the people in the inner-sanctum of a football club are the heart and soul of an organisation, and the quality people behind the scenes at the Titans made it hard to part ways with the Club.
“Parts of me (is) glad that it’s over, with some of the things we had to go through but I think overwhelmingly, it will be sad to say goodbye,” he said. “There is a lot of great people inside this club and certainly a lot of wonderful people in the community that we represent.”
A Gold Coast man through and through, Hodges says he has wanted to be a part of the Titans since the Club first joined the NRL in 2007.
“I always had a wish and a dream to work at the Titans, they’re my local club,” he said. “Once they came into the competition in 2006, when they got admission, and had the team up and running it was always a dream.
“If you had told me then I would be able to have three years here and coach eight games, I would’ve taken it at the drop of the hat.
“I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity I’ve had and the people that have supported us and I’ll have great memories of the Club.”
Hodges says the Titans is a special club and wants people to understand the wide impact it has across the community, not just on the football field, so the city unites in support behind the Titans.
“Hopefully there’s hundreds of young boys out there now that dream of playing for the club,” he said.
“The way the women’s competition is going and the work that that is happening behind the scenes to get that up and running, I hope there are hundreds of young boys and girls in the community that dream of playing for the club and representing the club.“
Hodges will leave the Gold Coast to become Head Coach of the Easts Tigers in the Intrust Super Cup competition in 2020.
Despite the results this season, Hodges says he is extremely proud of being able to coach the Titans.
“I’m disappointed it hasn’t worked out better but I’m extremely grateful for it and I have loved it,” he said. “I would have loved to have been here for 20 years and the only way you’re able to do that is to have success and achieve some things.
“It hasn’t been a great run for a lot of different reasons. But the fact of the matter is we haven’t had the results and the performances we had hoped and what we would like.”
