‘Phenomenal’: Rugby convert impressing as revamped Titans ready to shock — Off-season Central

The Gold Coast Titans are tipped to sharply improve in year two under Des Hasler as a talented roster takes shape.

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Captain Tino Fa’asuamaleaui returns from an ACL injury that sidelined for nearly all of 2024, former Eels prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard has signed with the club to add some starch to the front row and perhaps the most interesting acquisition is former Wallabies flyhalf Carter Gordon.

The Titans underachieved in 2024, finishing 14th with just eight wins, but CEO Steve Mitchell believes there was plenty to hang the hat on in an injury-riddled year, including the emergence of some promising young guns.

Mitchell says the abundance of talent across the park is creating fierce competition on the training paddock.

“The beauty about Des is that he makes you compete for your spot and we haven’t had that for a long time,” Mitchell said on the Big Sports Breakfast radio show.

“He (Des) lets them go to work and compete against each other. It’s a really healthy environment.

“It’s bringing the best out of the kids because quite frankly, the young kids are competing hard and the more established are in a position where they have to work very hard to maintain a spot so it’s an exciting time.

“We have kids like Jojo Fifita, AJ Brimson and young Keano competing for spots. We have a young kid by the name of Zane Harrison who is an Australian Schoolboys half.”

Mitchell also gave an update on Gordon, who is coming along in leaps and bounds since switching over from rugby union.

It’s unclear where or when Gordon will feature for the Titans this season, but it’s likely he’ll be given a chance in the halves at some stage given his flyhalf background.

“Carter Gordon, the ex Wallaby, has been phenomenal for us so far across his learning of the game,” Mitchell said.

RAIDERS GUN HOPING TO MAKE NO.1 JERSEY HIS OWN

Raiders speedster Kaeo Weekes enjoyed a breakout season in 2024, with some blistering performances in a range of positions, but the 22-year-old says there’s one spot he wants to lock down.

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Weekes started his debut season with the Raiders in reserve grade, before being named in the halves in Round 8 after halfback Jamal Fogarty suffered a bicep injury.

He was sound at halfback, but when he was shifted to fullback in Round 18, his freakish athletic ability was on full display.

Speaking to WWOS, Weekes, who recently signed a contract extension with the Raiders until the end of the 2027 season, says he wants to make the No. 1 jersey his own.

“It’s a cliche but it’s a case of I’m happy anywhere in the team,” Weekes told WWOS.

“But having said that, I do have a preference for the spine and I’ve been training at fullback in the pre-season and really enjoying it. You get a lot of freedom to run there and there are so many great fullbacks in the NRL so it’s a challenge.

“We’ll just wait and see how the trials go and what Ricky [Stuart] wants.”

There’s a vacancy at the position after Jordan Rapana’s departure.

Young gun Chevy Stewart had a taste of first grade in 2024 for mixed results.

The club believe he’s the future at fullback, but there’s no rush given his tender age of 19.

This means Weekes is in the box seat to wear the No. 1 jersey for the Raiders’ season opener against the Warriors in Las Vegas.

DETAILS EMERGE OF GRANT’S SURF RESCUE

Storm captain Harry Grant has come to the aid of a swimmer caught in a rip on the Sunshine Coast – the second time he’s come to the rescue in the surf.

According to Code Sports, Grant was surfing at First Bay Beach when he came to the rescue of someone stuck in a rip.

Grant told the swimmer to jump on his surfboard and they made their way back to the shore.

Grant’s deed may have gone unreported had it not been for an eyewitness posting about the incident on social media.

“Watched this bloke yesterday bring in a young fella who was struggling in the water near some rocks back to the beach on his surfboard,” Bradley Norris wrote alongside a post of the pair. Absolute legend,” the post read.

The Storm star is a former nipper and avid surfer, and his skill in the water has saved lives before.

In 2016 at Port Macquarie, Grant and his father came to the rescue of a mother and daughter who were stuck in a rip.

“We were just lucky that we had spent a bit of time at the beach and understood the water at the time. Anyone in the same situation would do the same thing. I’m just glad we were there,” he told the SMH earlier this month when recounting the incident ahead of the Pacific Championship final.

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DOLPHINS RECRUIT TARGETS BLUES RECALL

Dolphins’ recruit Daniel Saifiti admits he was unconsciously got comfortable during his time at the Knights and is targeting a NSW Origin call at his new club under former coach Kristian Woolf.

Saifiti scored 19 tries in 183 games for the Knights since his debut in 2016, and played seven Origins for NSW, the last of which came in 2021, and three Tests for Fiji.

However, he was released from the final two years of his Knights contract to take up a three-year deal with the Dolphins and he candidly admits he needed a change to revive his career.

“I would say I did want to get out of my comfort zone, I probably was there and I was one of the senior boys (at Newcastle); me and my brother Jacob, we were probably the last two there over the last decade, so you get in that comfort zone, (even if) you don’t mean to do it,” Saifiti said.

“But I knew it was time. I had a sit down with my partner and we knew we were ready to move.”

The 28-year-old spent time with Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf when he was an assistant at Newcastle and jumped at the chance to reunite with his former mentor.

“I think the roster’s top notch there, there are representative players all over the park, but probably the main thing was coming under Woolfy again,” Saifiti said.

“I only had him for one year in 2019, but me and him built a real close relationship there and we’ve kept in touch ever since.

“When he rang my manager, I pretty much knew after that first phone call that this is the club for me, so I’m just glad he made the call and I’m here now.”

The Dolphins were denied a maiden finals spot in 2024, ironically by Saifiti’s old team the Knights, and the focus is clear heading into 2025.

“I think they’ve gotten better obviously from ‘23 to ‘24 and they’re looking to go one better this year,” Saifiti said.

“I’ve spoken to a couple of boys about it, obviously, whoever won that game last year out of us and Newcastle made the eight; so I think not making it left a sour taste in a few of the boys’ mouths and it’s just extra motivation to train harder and get that one step further next year.

“They were close to making it last year obviously and didn’t make it at the end, but I think we knuckle down in the pre-season, fix the wrongs from last year … get fitter, hold each other accountable and I think this is definitely a finals footy team and a finals forward pack.”

While his immediate focus is on making the Dolphins finals contenders, Saifiti admits he covets a return to the Origin arena for the first time since 2021.

“When he (Woolf) was at the club, I was playing Origin back in 2019 and he’d love to see me get there again,” Saifiti said.

“I have just come to a new club and it’s not just going to happen, I am going to have to prove my myself to him and the boys that I do deserve to be in the team (each week).

“I find with rep teams, if you’re playing in a good team that’s going well and you’re playing good footy; you sort of naturally get picked, so you’ve got to impress the boys and the coaches first.

“I’m coming into a forward pack with guys that are playing in Origin and guys like Kenny Bromwich and Felise Kaufusi, they have won comps and played Origin, played for New Zealand and the like.

“So even though I’m getting older, I’m almost 30, there’s still a lot to learn and those guys have been everywhere and I get to pick their brains here.”

Saifiti won’t have to wait long to come up against his former team and twin brother Jacob, with the Dolphins playing the Knights in Round 2.

“It’s personal on the field for 80 minutes, but he is my best mate and we will shake hands and give each other a hug after,” Saifiti said.

“But you’re going to smash him, right?” a journalist joked.

“Yeah it’s going to happen,” Saifiti laughed.