Recruitment 101 from Mal Meninga and the Titans: send a letter to your 100-odd club members telling them your recruitment plan is to speak to every single available player even though you don’t have the cash to sign them, in the hope someone signs on with your rabble...
‘It’s a buyer’s market, we’re going shopping’: $1m Fifita tops Titans’ 9-man hitlist
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Titans name hit list
Mal Meninga has already begun to put together a hit list of top line NRL talent, but there’s one catch however — the Gold Coast don’t have the money to spend big.
Meninga declared recently that they couldn’t afford to sign Alex Glenn from the Broncos, but has thrown his weight behind targeting another Brisbane forward, David Fifita.
The Titans recently pinned down highly-commended forward Mo Fotuaika, and need to lock in Jai Arrow and AJ Brimson before November 1.
In a letter to Titans fans, Meninga wrote: “Will we be talking to David Fifita about returning to the Gold Coast, where he went to school at Palm Beach Currumbin High School? Of course we will.”
“What about his Broncos teammate Thomas Flegler, who could follow Jai Arrow’s path to State of Origin by becoming a senior player at the Titans? Absolutely.
“Canberra’s Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad? Josh Jackson and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak from the Dogs? Felise Kaufusi and Ryan Papenhuyzen at Melbourne? Kyle Feldt and Jordan McLean at the Cowboys?”
Bringing any of those players in will pose salary cap issues for the Titans, and the club would need to shed some of its big earners.
Names such as Nathan Peats, Bryce Cartwright and Leilani Latu — believed to have a combined cap value of around $1.7 million have been mentioned to
foxsports.com.au as players they would like to move on — but the Titans say no decision will be made until incoming coach Justin Holbrook is in post.
Either way, it will be interesting to see who the Gold Coast can bring in when their coach does arrive.