D-Day as Gold Coast officials face Titanic call on new coach
D-Day has arrived for the Titans with the seven-person board today facing the biggest decision in the club’s history — whether to choose Justin Holbrook or Kevin Walters to lead the Gold Coast into a new era.
The Courier-Mail understands Holbrook has support to edge out Walters, with Titans culture chief Mal Meninga’s due diligence to be crucial in the board’s choice of coach to oversee Gold Coast’s rebuilding mission.
Titans bosses have privately consulted several leading players on Walters’ claims, including the club’s Queensland Origin representatives Jarrod Wallace and Jai Arrow.
Gold Coast executive chairman Dennis Watt has conceded the club’s long-term survival hinges on making the right coaching call.
Now the situation is real, with seven board members today holding the Titans’ future in their hands.
They are Watt, Ned Pank*hurst, Trish Hogan, Tony Hickey and Geoff Jones, plus Titans co-owners Rebecca Frizelle and Darryl Kelly.
Titans culture and performance boss Meninga will personally address the board before tabling his recommendations after weeks of fact-finding involving interviews and character references.
The board will then rubberstamp the preferred candidate before finalising a multi-year contract for Garth Brennan’s successor to begin the daunting task of hauling the Titans out of the premiership cellar.
While Walters has fine pedigree as a premiership player and two-time series-winning Queensland Origin coach, Meninga has been highly impressed by Holbrook’s outstanding results at St Helens.
Meninga had a magnificent two-year stint as a player at St Helens in 1984-85 and has used his network of British contacts to do his homework on Holbrook, which extended to an interview last week.
Walters has consistently said he will not apply for the Titans post but Gold Coast powerbrokers have seriously assessed him.
Wallace and Arrow have been asked about their personal experiences with Walters in the Queensland set-up.
Holbrook has also been linked to the Canterbury post but he has told Meninga he wants the Titans job.
The 43-year-old has a superb record at St Helens, having won 61 of 77 games for a 79 per cent success rate and is about to clinch his second consecutive minor premiership.
Former Cowboys premiership fullback Lachlan Coote, now at St Helens, yesterday rated Holbrook the best coach he had worked with.
The Courier-Mail last week said Walters one day hoped to coach in the NRL and Broncos mentor Anthony Seibold, his former Queensland Origin assistant, believed he would succeed at the Titans.
“Certainly Kevvie could be a great NRL coach,” he said.
“He has shown over a long period of time that he is passionate about coaching.
“He has had experience coaching his own side over at the Catalans Dragons.
“He has coached the Ipswich Jets in the Queensland Cup and been an assistant at a number of (NRL) clubs and had a lot of success as a player.
“There is no doubt that if Kevvie wanted to do that and be an NRL coach he can. I wish him all the best if that is what he wants to do.
“I also know he is passionate about Queensland so I’m sure whoever the Titans put in place there, they will get a good coach and the best coach they think can take the club forward.
“I think he is a tremendous coach and has had a long pathway to being an NRL coach.”
D-Day has arrived for the Titans with the seven-person board today facing the biggest decision in the club’s history — whether to choose Justin Holbrook or Kevin Walters to lead the Gold Coast into a new era.
The Courier-Mail understands Holbrook has support to edge out Walters, with Titans culture chief Mal Meninga’s due diligence to be crucial in the board’s choice of coach to oversee Gold Coast’s rebuilding mission.
Titans bosses have privately consulted several leading players on Walters’ claims, including the club’s Queensland Origin representatives Jarrod Wallace and Jai Arrow.
Gold Coast executive chairman Dennis Watt has conceded the club’s long-term survival hinges on making the right coaching call.
Now the situation is real, with seven board members today holding the Titans’ future in their hands.
They are Watt, Ned Pank*hurst, Trish Hogan, Tony Hickey and Geoff Jones, plus Titans co-owners Rebecca Frizelle and Darryl Kelly.
Titans culture and performance boss Meninga will personally address the board before tabling his recommendations after weeks of fact-finding involving interviews and character references.
The board will then rubberstamp the preferred candidate before finalising a multi-year contract for Garth Brennan’s successor to begin the daunting task of hauling the Titans out of the premiership cellar.
While Walters has fine pedigree as a premiership player and two-time series-winning Queensland Origin coach, Meninga has been highly impressed by Holbrook’s outstanding results at St Helens.
Meninga had a magnificent two-year stint as a player at St Helens in 1984-85 and has used his network of British contacts to do his homework on Holbrook, which extended to an interview last week.
Walters has consistently said he will not apply for the Titans post but Gold Coast powerbrokers have seriously assessed him.
Wallace and Arrow have been asked about their personal experiences with Walters in the Queensland set-up.
Holbrook has also been linked to the Canterbury post but he has told Meninga he wants the Titans job.
The 43-year-old has a superb record at St Helens, having won 61 of 77 games for a 79 per cent success rate and is about to clinch his second consecutive minor premiership.
Former Cowboys premiership fullback Lachlan Coote, now at St Helens, yesterday rated Holbrook the best coach he had worked with.
The Courier-Mail last week said Walters one day hoped to coach in the NRL and Broncos mentor Anthony Seibold, his former Queensland Origin assistant, believed he would succeed at the Titans.
“Certainly Kevvie could be a great NRL coach,” he said.
“He has shown over a long period of time that he is passionate about coaching.
“He has had experience coaching his own side over at the Catalans Dragons.
“He has coached the Ipswich Jets in the Queensland Cup and been an assistant at a number of (NRL) clubs and had a lot of success as a player.
“There is no doubt that if Kevvie wanted to do that and be an NRL coach he can. I wish him all the best if that is what he wants to do.
“I also know he is passionate about Queensland so I’m sure whoever the Titans put in place there, they will get a good coach and the best coach they think can take the club forward.
“I think he is a tremendous coach and has had a long pathway to being an NRL coach.”