Overnight the perceived issues at the Gold Coast Titans got a whole lot deeper. Everyone thought the issue was about Hayne v Henry. New information has come to light that the future stars of the club, namely Ash Taylor and Kane Elgey have given the club an ultimatum – it’s Henry or us.

Hayne v Henry

When the Hayne v Henry stoush came to a head earlier in the week, Graham Annesley (Titans CEO) said:

“It’s broader than what might appear on the surface in relation to Jarryd and Neil.”

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With clubs sinking so much money into future stars they can’t really afford to lose them. This presents a major problem, not only for the Titans but for every club in the NRL.

Clubs held to ransom

This is not the first time we have seen this situation. When the Tigers were in the process of deciding if their future would include Jason Taylor at the end of the 2016, the ‘big four’ as they were known: Woods, Tedesco, Brooks and Moses refused to sign their extension options until they knew who the coach would be. It was a passive aggressive way of saying, if Taylor is at the club next year we won’t be.

A sign of the times

Unfortunately the Titans saga plays out much like the Tigers pantomime. This is a sign of what will happen to all clubs in the future. With high profile players earning more money than ever, coaches have to walk on eggshells.

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Offend a player and all they have to do is throw their toys out of the cot and threaten to take their talent somewhere else. The new buzz term in the NRL is “they’ve lost the dressing room”.

Does this mean every time a coach says something a playing group doesn’t like they need to update their Resume?

Why is the NRL different to other industries?

Professional sport these days is a business like any other. Their business is in entertainment and their employees are the players and administrators. So the question has to be asked, in what other industry do your employees get so much say in who the manager is?

In any other job in the real world you don’t get a choice. And if you don’t like who you report to, you look elsewhere.

It’s a shame for the code, and for all professional sport, that the next generation of athletes will be the ultimatum generation. What happened to collaboration?

by Darrin Seath – contributor