The changes inspiring the Titans to get back on track

There is no one more disappointed about how the Gold Coast Titans have gone this season than the coach himself, Justin Holbrook.

Expecting a big year on the back of a drought-breaking finals appearance in 2021, the experienced mentor has been faced with a number of challenges that hasn't helped his young team jettison up the ladder.

The extended layoff over the last two weeks due to the club bye at the weekend has allowed for Holbrook to join forces with a number of other key Gold Coast hierarchy to implement a number of changes in readiness for next year, starting this weekend in a big local derby clash against the Broncos.  

Opening up in a raw and honest interview exclusively with members of the Titans Legion on Tuesday night, before speaking with local media on Wednesday, below are the changes being implemented to help the Titans get back on track.

A reshuffle of positions

Holbrook has made sweeping changes to the team's 17 ahead of the Broncos clash with a number of positional switches, seeing Tanah Boyd move to five-eighth, Paul Turner to the bench and Erin Clark into a utility role. The return of experienced backs in Phil Sami and Corey Thompson has bolstered the side for the bout, as well as the exciting NRL debut of Jojo Fifita and first game in Titans colours for Aaron Booth. 

Clark's move away from the hooking duties and into the No. 14 jersey with the likelihood of playing mostly at lock is something the Titans coach is looking forward to seeing.

"Erin is more the modern day 13 now. Looking at Reuben Cotter and Cam McInnes at the Sharks... those type of tough hookers that can ball play," Holbrook said.

"The game is quicker now and it's suited to those type of players and Erin would prefer 13.

"The more we can get him back in that role, the better, but we're going to rely on Aaron Booth stepping up for us and Tanah continuing on, but for this week it's best we get Tanah in the halves.

"Paul Turner has been improving but he’s only just starting his NRL career and he’s probably not quite ready for 80 minutes at NRL level yet.

"Tanah is a really good runner of the ball and that’s why I’ve moved him to six this weekend."

Overcoming the challenges of a young spine

This week's reshuffle has been a direct result of the challenges Holbrook has faced with the Gold Coast's young spine this season, but the extended injuries to live-wire No. 1 Jayden Campbell has made things even more tougher for the Titans mentor.

"We made a decision as a club to go with the young spine, but unfortunately, we haven't been able to keep them on the field to start with," Holbrook said.

"We've got Jayden Campbell, AJ Brimson and Toby Sexton, but they've only played seven games together and we're going into Round 18... and in two of those games, JC got injured, so they've really only played five games together.

"We lost some games earlier in the year due to inexperience and we would've loved to have kept them going together but unfortunately, injury prevented that.

"As well as that, another big factor was Will Smith leaving. He was an experienced guy that could slot in anywhere for us - in the halves, at fullback or at hooker - which he did for the first eight to nine rounds but then unfortunately, out of our control and not rugby league related, we couldn't keep him here.

"Looking ahead, we don't need to change everything in terms of players. We've got Kieran Foran coming and he's going to be a massive impact next year."

Blooding the next generation

With the Titans' young spine already in place, it's been a precarious juggling act for Holbrook, who has had to try and carefully balance youth and experience in his top 17 each week. 

Whilst there are a number of up-and-coming stars banging down the door in the Hostplus Cup eager to get their opportunity in the top grade, the Titans coach knows he can't bring all the new talents in at once, ensuring there's no compromise to that delicate mix.

With Jojo Fifita and Aaron Booth getting their shot after consistent and commendable performances for the affiliate teams, Holbrook hasn't ruled out further debuts over the final weeks as preparations begin for 2023.

"It's a good opportunity this week to give Aaron Booth a go. He's had a heavily disrupted pre-season and a slow start of the year (due to injury), so we've got him in and obviously it's exciting to give Jojo Fifita his NRL debut this week," Holbrook said.

"We've got a couple other young guys playing really well for our feeder clubs, but I can't bring them all in at once.

"At the end of the day, we've still got young halves and a combination that we've got to be doing the right thing by everybody.

"But there is an opportunity to give the guys that are playing really well because that's the position we're in that and we can't just continue doing what we're doing.

"As I said last game, we were awful, so it's the right thing to do."

Fresh ideas from fresh faces

Much has been said recently about the departure of two of the Titans' key coaching and performance staff, particularly assistant coach Jim Dymock, with the club looking to head in a different direction to inject new ideas from fresh faces ahead of next season.

The introduction of new coaching staff is nothing new to other NRL clubs who make similar changes, but Holbrook believes this move had more attention and public scrutiny drawn to it due to the current ladder scenario and the fact it happened before the end of the season.

"Jim is a tremendous coach, has great experience and is well respected in our game and he will have a big future, but for us, we're not happy with where we sit and we just need a couple of fresh faces in terms of staff, with some new ideas and that's the path we're taking," Holbrook explained.

"We could have waited till the end of the year, but we kind of feel that where we're sitting, we might as well just try and get a start on next year, so that is the only reason he's finished up.

"We need some fresh faces in staff, so we'll have a couple of those, and then we'll look to, to add the players as well.

"It's nothing more than that. Jimmy's a great coach and a great person, so he will get a new opportunity and will continue coaching, but for us, we've just got to change it up a bit.

"It's only natural that every club makes changes. It's just more amplified by where we sit on the table. Every club changes assistant coaches all the time, so it's not nothing more than a change.

"If you look at all the other NRL clubs, there'd be plenty of changes with assistants, it's just the fact that where we sit and the fact that we've probably made a bigger call by changing before the end of the year, but that was only purely to try and get a quicker start on next year."

Roster in great shape with experience coming

Opting to release Jamal Fogarty to take up a contract opportunity with Canberra, Holbrook was comfortable skilful utility Will Smith would provide the leadership and guidance to the young spine in the short term, much like he did in the opening rounds, but it couldn't be anticipated he would need to leave the club for personal reasons mid-way through the year.

Whilst it's a tough waiting game till the end of the season for experience to come, the recruitment of Kieran Foran next season will bring plenty of benefits to help the young and exciting playmakers currently in the roles flourish and develop further as they grow into their first grade careers.

The Titans coach believes the New Zealand International's recruitment will go a long way to helping boost the roster which Holbrook feels is in good shape heading into the future.

"We've got Kieran Foran coming and he's going to be a massive impact next year, but I think everyone within rugby league, both on the coach or player side, can all see that if we get an experienced half and possibly an experienced nine, then we've got the nucleus of a good side," Holbrook explained.

"We've worked hard to keep key guys here like like Tino (Fa'asuamaleaui), AJ (Brimson), Moe (Fotuaika) and Beau Fermor.... we've got a lot of the nucleus there, we're just missing a couple of pieces.

"We're in a great position and we've got a lot of great young players coming through.

"We've got three in the Australian Schoolboys side just announced last week and we had seven represent Queensland that won (the ASSRL National Championships), so the future is great.

"We've just got to get our current side firing."