Mal Meninga has vision to make Titans a bigger powerhouse than Broncos
New Titans performance chief Mal Meninga has put Brisbane on notice, outlining his blueprint to make the Titans Queensland’s No.1 NRL team by becoming bigger than the Broncos.
On the eve of Saturday night’s derby trial at Cbus Super Stadium, Meninga says he is fed-up with the Titans being mocked by critics and has steeled himself for Mission Impossible – toppling the mighty Broncos.
Brisbane have been Queensland’s flagship team for 30 years, having won six premierships and amassing a record $46 million in revenue last year to flex their muscle as the NRL’s richest club.
By comparison, the Titans are the Broncos’ poor cousin. They drowned in a $25 million debt in 2012, had their licence taken over by the NRL three years later, and have made the finals just once in the past eight seasons.
But NRL Immortal Meninga has had enough. He says it is time to make the Titans a premiership force and has devised the type of multifaceted cultural plan that propelled Queensland to nine series wins in 10 years during his record reign as Maroons coach.
Installed as the Gold Coast’s performance and culture boss last November, Meninga scoffed at suggestions the Titans will never challenge the Broncos in the key southeast Queensland market.
“My vision is for the Titans to be bigger than the Broncos,” Meninga said.
“We aren’t going to stand there and be second best.
“I want to make an impact at this club. I want success for the Titans.
“Everyone laughs about the notion of us being bigger (than the Broncos). That disappoints me.
“People have to start thinking we can be a strong club and that the Gold Coast Titans are going places.
“I don’t like letting people down. I don’t want to let the Titans down.
“I want the Titans to be the strongest club in Queensland.”
Meninga accepts the task of usurping the Broncos is akin to scaling Everest, but the 58-year-old is a proven winner.
He won three premierships as a player at Canberra, captained Australia to two Kangaroo Tour successes, and coached Queensland to a record decade of dominance at Origin level.
Now he wants to impart his winning mentality on a Titans club still searching for their maiden premiership.
“As the head of performance and culture, I want to give them a sense of what it takes to be a winning club,” he said.
“I have been with winning teams all my life, whether it’s been playing or captaining or coaching.
“I understand what success looks like and I’d love to paint that picture for them.
“You need a common purpose and you have to be motivated by a set of core beliefs or value systems that is conductive to the club’s identity and the character of the people.
“You have to have an emotional intelligence about what the club represents and then it’s just damn hard work.
“We need to build the players’ physical and mental strength to consistently win tight games.
“The club has been so resilient over a long period of time. But I want us to fight out of it and have some good times.”
Meninga admires Brisbane’s remarkable wave of talent headlined by Payne Haas, David Fifita, Tom Flegler and Pat Carrigan, but says the Titans are ready to pounce.
“Brisbane’s depth in the forwards is incredible and the challenge for them is to keep them all and picking the right talent to stay at the club,” he said.
“If the Broncos are thinking about releasing talent, we’re just down the road as another option for players.”
That's why Mal gets paid the big bucks.......
Can you really name it that? It lasted half a TV interview.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...e/news-story/bb86e90d25b3c31d6a36bd2ae622d6deBuzz: Let’s talk expansion, starting with Brisbane
At some stage in the near future the NRL needs to fast forward to the difficult conversation about expansion and, more importantly, the long-term future and sustainability of nine Sydney clubs.
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In two years the governing body will enter negotiations with TV networks and live streaming services for the next broadcasting deal. The current contract ends in 2022.
The reason for the urgency is that you need certainty around the product before you go to market.
The NRL must look to Brisbane for expansion, believes Buzz Rothfield. (AAP image, John Gass)
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We’re raising the topic again today because it’s an issue that has to be addressed not only for the broadcast deal but to give potential new franchises the opportunity to properly prepare.
Last week your columnist visited the magnificent new $30 million Broncos centre of excellence in Brisbane. From the moment you walk in on the ground floor it hits you … the Sydney clubs cannot possibly compete against this sort of professionalism.
Their set-up is out of this world.
The Broncos have $14.5 million worth of sponsors. The Cronulla Sharks had none until they snared a $1 million jersey sponsor over the weekend.
The Broncos are setting the standard for professionalism across the NRL. (AAP Image/Darren England)
The Broncos have 30,000 members — the highest in the league — spending on average $200 per head for another $6 million in revenue. On top of that they get the NRL grant of $12 million.
Their business now turns over well north of $50 million each year.
The Broncos have a city of 2.5 million to themselves and the best rugby league stadium in the southern hemisphere.
Plus the best high-performance centre I have seen in this country.
Sydney has nine clubs in a population of five million.
The longevity of nine Sydney clubs must be questioned. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
What became obvious during the visit north of the border is that Brisbane needs a second team.
Even the Broncos’ highly regarded chief executive Paul White said: “The city’s big enough and it’s growing.
“Competition and competitiveness drive innovation. I support the growth of our game and having a future direction beyond the next five-year cycle.”
The Broncos are superbly run and leave a lot of the Sydney clubs looking like they are almost stuck in the chook raffle days.
The NRL is competing with 142 elite sporting franchises in Australia. Picture: Matt Loxton
It’s chalk and cheese and the gap is only increasing.
The Broncos even have a sponsor for their training balls.
The commercial department got a copy of every edition of last year’s Courier Mail newspaper and printed copies of the pages where the training ball was photographed.
They took a big fat folder into the market and received $200,000 just for the football.
Their major sponsorship with NRMA is said to be worth almost $2 million a year, which is almost double what most of their Sydney rivals get for the same position on their jerseys.
Importantly, the aim shouldn’t be to weaken the Broncos. They are the benchmark.
Rivals clubs, particularly those in Sydney, need to lift their own games.
NRL hand down heavy penalties to players, clubs
As White said: “I don’t think the game can sustain a competition with more than 16 teams.
“There are some telling indicators in that a number of Sydney clubs are struggling.”
So the conversation needs to happen. Not next year, but now.
To cut a Sydney team would be a highly dangerous move.
We saw what happened when that was tried on the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Yet there are now 142 elite sporting franchises in Australia competing for the corporate dollar. We’re talking Supercars, Big Bash, all forms of male and female cricket, netball, league, union, AFL, soccer, basketball etc, etc.
It’s a tough ask for a suburban rugby league team to survive in this market.
