Gold Coast chairman Paul Broughton says club will be bigger than Brisbane
By Brent Read
September 24, 2010
On the eve of the biggest match in Gold Coast history, Titans chairman Paul Broughton boldly predicts the club will one day eclipse the Brisbane Broncos as the flagship franchise in Queensland.
Broughton was a driving force behind the NRL returning to the region nearly four years ago and, as he proudly watched the players go through their paces at Skilled Park, he suggestedthe preliminary final against the Sydney Roosters at Suncorp Stadium was only the start. The next step is to usurp the Broncos as king pins in Queensland.
"I think the footy club can do anything," said Broughton, who was involved with Gold Coast in its previous incarnation as the Chargers.
"The Broncos have been here for 21, 22 years. We have only been here for four. They're not in the play-offs. We are. Nothing unites a city more than its residents being able to relate to a winning football team. In this case it's rugby league."
Asked whether it was the biggest game in the code's history on the Gold Coast, Broughton didn't hesitate.
"Absolutely," he said.
"It's going to be on the world stage. Everybody will know Gold Coast is not a place in Africa, it's a place in south-east Queensland.
"I know one thing - the further you go, the deeper the wound. If you're looking at the football team and the fans, when the whistle goes everyone is going to go into the winning dressing room. I hope it's ours."
The magnitude of this game for the Titans is only enhanced by the looming presence of the AFL.
Next year the Titans will be jostling with the Suns for the hearts and minds of Gold Coast sports fans. A premiership would shore up the support the Titans already enjoy.
"It's a big game and we just have to treat it with the respect it deserves," coach John Cartwright said.
"It's enormous. You only have to walk through the streets. You can see the kids in the park. It's a warm thought to see all the kids running around in their Titans colours and the community getting behind us.
"Anything that can be made blue and gold has been made blue and gold. It's hard to put an estimate on what that does for you, but it certainly gives you a warm feeling when you're involved from the inside.
"We're the only Queensland side."
Captain Scott Prince warmed to the theme.
"It means a hell of a lot," Prince said.
"Searley and Paul Broughton, the guys who have started it from the word go . . . they have created the team and the culture we're a part of.
"We're playing a massive role in creating a history and culture. It means a hell of a lot to the Gold Coast community and Titans supporters in general.
"It's just great to see the support we have got in Queensland - all over Australia and the world for that matter.
"Let's just hope they drop the Broncos and Cowboys tag and get on board the Titans train."
Many of those supporters will travel up the Pacific Highway today, with a crowd in excess of 45,000 expected at Suncorp Stadium.
Nearly 20,000 of those tickets have been snapped up by supporters in the Coast's catchment area. The vast majority of those remaining have been purchased within Queensland.
Titans officials and players are counting on Queenslanders to rally behind their side.
"I think grand finals are independence day," said Broughton, who began plotting Gold Coast's return to the NRL with Searle in 1998 only months after the Chargers were thrown out of the premiership.
"The fans have changed towards us because they like associating with a winning football team.
"I think to us it's independence day."
Even if it's my town's team. :roll:
