If Melbourne Storm great Matt Geyer never went holidaying in Cancún around 15 years ago, he may have never ended up as the Titans' new NRLW assistant coach.
Excited to be Karyn Murphy's right hand man for the upcoming season, the 268-game flyer has been a coaching institution on the Gold Coast since he moved to Queensland, taking charge of a number of junior sides at the Currumbin Eagles before progressing to their A Grade side - a team he still is at the helm of today - alongside his commitments at Marymount College.
But if it wasn't for his trip away to Mexico's picturesque holiday destination, he may not be the experienced mentor and have the new role at Titans HQ that he has today.
"I love coaching but to be honest, my first coaching appointment... I didn't want to do it," Geyer admitted.
"It was my son in the Under 10s here at Currumbin and my wife hoodwinked me into it when I was on a trip away in Cancún.
"That's how my coaching career started."
The rest is now history upon taking up that role to coach his son Nash's team and after plenty of success mentoring the next generation of talent coming through, including the likes of Xavier Coates, Tom Dearden and the Titans' very own Toby Sexton through his time coaching at the Eagles, he now embarks on a new challenge to help steer the Gold Coast's NRLW side to premiership glory in the club's second season in the competition.
But much like how his coaching career began, the opportunity to join forces with the Queensland and Australian Jillaroos legend was something that came totally out of the blue for Geyer.
"I had a phone call one Friday night from Karyn... she was like 'Matt, can you call me in the morning?' Geyer recalled.
"I actually thought she was contacting me to help out here at Currumbin because obviously she's a pioneer of the women's game and we're trying to get young girls to play down here (at Currumbin).
"When I spoke to her, she said... 'I want you to help me with the NRL Women's Titans team.
"At the start I was thinking how's this going to work because I already coach two teams and have a pretty busy job, but as it evolved, I got more and more excited.
"So with my job as a teacher at Marymount College, I'm actually taking some leave from that and I'm going to jump two feet in and have a crack at it.
"I'm really genuinely excited."
Happily admitting he is a rookie when it comes to coaching at both the elite level and in the women's game, the two-time premiership-winning back is hoping to bring his own style to the side, especially a particular focus on enjoying the game.
"I am very inexperienced at this level, but I have coached probably for about 15 years now and I love coaching," Geyer said.
"I'll look to pass on the basics of the game, like doing the simple things of the game such as kicking, catching, passing and tackling really well, that's going to hold you in good stead.
"For me, I developed my own coaching philosophy many years ago here at the junior footy club and I think it resonates that it's all about enjoyment. The people, if they enjoy what they're doing, they're going to want to do it better and if they enjoy your company, they're going to want to do better for you.
"That's a big part of my coaching philosophy - that they enjoy, they learn and they improve."
With the NRLW pre-season beginning in just under two weeks, the excitement is continuing to build for Geyer, who has a good grasp of how much female talent is around the Coast.
"It's just a hotbed of talent here on the Gold Coast playing women's rugby league," Geyer said.
"We do have a lot of young talent here and a lot of experienced talent as well, which is nice for those girls who have been in the game for such a long time to finally be able to play at this level and consistently at this level.
"But also, with Burleigh and Tweed on our doorstep developing players and all the junior clubs are trying to develop their female youth, it's a really exciting time for the game in general, but also locally."
Particularly with the squad that has been assembled for the Titans' assault on premiership glory, with a large number of players re-signed, added with experienced stars such as Lauren Brown, Annette Brander and Rona Peters joining the club for the new season.
"I'm really excited by the list that we've been able to put together," Geyer said.
"I think with the looming expansion coming next year, I think we needed to show some loyalty to the players that were around, but when you have someone like Lauren Brown... when a player like her becomes available, you've got to get her.
"I'm really excited about her presence coming into our team and our squad, especially what she gives on the field and off the field, it does help."
The 2022 NRLW season is set to kick-off in August and the Titans are aiming for grand final glory after coming so close in their inaugural season. Show your support with a NRLW membership - on sale now ready for '22!
