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Cartwright coached the Titans from 2007-2014
2007
The Titans’ historic first game in the NRL Telstra Premiership was played at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane against the St George Illawarra Dragons, with the team putting up a gallant effort before going down 20-18 in front of 42,030 fans.
The club’s first win came the following weekend in the Titans’ first home match at Carrara 18-16 against the Cronulla Sharks.
The Titans finished the 2007 season with 10 victories in 12th place on the NRL ladder – a credible effort for the team’s first season.
2008
The 2008 season saw the Titans farewell Gold Coast Stadium at Carrara for their brand new home at Skilled Park in Robina. Fittingly, the state of the art stadium was built in Titans colours to signify the cementing of the team in the NRL.
The Titans opened the season in style with a first round 36-18 victory over the North Queensland Cowboys in front of a near capacity crowd. Titans winger Jordan Atkins had a dream start to the NRL that night, equalling a 66-year-old record for most tries on debut - crossing the line an impressive four times.
The Titans showed blistering form at the beginning of the season, winning six of their first seven matches and were later undefeated at home, winning seven from seven games at Skilled Park.
The streak gave them first place on the ladder in rounds six, seven and ten, however a broken arm to captain and halfback Scott Prince while representing Queensland in game three of the State of Origin series saw his season end prematurely and the Titans fall to a four game losing streak from which they struggled to recover.
They finished 2008 in 13th place but the year would serve as a strong foundation for future success.
2009
The season began in similar fashion to 2008, with the Titans racing out of the blocks to register five wins from their first six matches. However, this time the Titans maintained their form throughout the 26 rounds of the regular season to finish in third spot on the ladder with 16 wins.
The top-four finish saw the Titans create history by qualifying for their first finals series and have the added advantage of a home final. However, they were defeated in the historic first semi-final against the Broncos at Skilled Park by 40-32 before being knocked out of finals contention the following week in a 27-2 loss to a red-hot Parramatta outfit at the Sydney Football Stadium.
2010
In 2010, the club backed up that effort to qualify for the finals with a fourth placed finish – which again granted the club a home final in the opening week of the play-offs.
The Titans kicked off their finals campaign with a convincing 28-16 win over the New Zealand Warriors to qualify for the club’s first preliminary final. The club went within 80 minutes of making the grand final before their run was ended with a 32-6 loss to the Sydney Roosters, who stormed into grand final contention with a late season surge.
2011
In stark contrast to their previous two seasons when the Titans were renowned for making strong starts to the year, 2011 began with four losses from the club’s first six matches. It what was to prove a tough season, the Titans finished the year with only six wins and lost a final round match against Parramatta to finish with the wooden spoon for the first time.
The year would mark the end of an era for the club with the departure of inaugural squad members Preston Campbell, Anthony Laffranchi, Brad Meyers and Nathan Friend.
To fill the void, the club was able to snare the signatures of a handful of high profile recruits headlined by Jamal Idris, Nate Myles and Beau Champion as well as highly rated Bulldogs junior Aidan Sezer ahead of the 2012 season.
The other silver lining to the 2011 season was the emergence of several youngsters within the Titans ranks such as under-20s hooker Matt Srama, playmaker Jordan Rankin, young forward Ben Ridge and winger/centre Dominique Peyroux.
2012
The 2012 season started off with a bang, with the Titans leaving the North Queensland Cowboys scoreless in an 18-0 victory in which new recruit Idris bagged two tries. However, five straight losses followed as the Titans' new roster took time to gel and establish combinations.
A 26-14 defeat of reigning premiers Manly at Brookvale in round seven proven to be a turning point for the Titans season, with the club winning seven of their next 12 matches.
After putting together three successive wins heading into the final stretch of games, the Titans' dream of a late surge towards the finals hit a speed bump when they narrowly lost to the in-form South Sydney Rabbitohs in round 22.
In the end, the club’s slow start to the year proved too difficult to overcome, with the Titans falling just short of a finals berth. However, the club’s form over the second half of the season, a new playing roster which appeared to be gelling and the recruitment of hulking representative forward David Taylor provided the Titans with plenty to look forward to ahead of 2013.
2013
Amidst financial pressures of 2012, with the state of the art Centre of Excellence having to be sold and new investors brought into the club, there was tremendous recovery on and off the field in 2013 with the Titans missing the final eight by just two competition points.
After winning four of their first five games which put them in sixth position, the side was hit by injuries to key players in the second half of the season. They were in fifth position after round 16 when they lost giant in-form centre Jamal Idris for the rest of the season.
However, with the NRL’s least experienced halves combination of Albert Kelly and Aidan Sezer in fine form, the team stayed in contention for the top eight right down to the last round loss to third placed Melbourne, by 23-22. In the final few rounds they beat grand finalists Canterbury 26-16 and Sydney Roosters (30-22) and during the season recorded the club’s three biggest wins – 42-4 against Parramatta in Mudgee, 36-0 against Canberra and 36-6 against Wests Tigers at Skilled Stadium.
It was a season that saw co-captain Nate Myles played a prominent role in Queensland’s eighth straight State of Origin series victory (he played in all eight), Greg Bird against represent NSW and both selected to represent Australia at the World Cup in England. Other World Cup reps from the Titans were Luke Douglas (Scotland), Mark Minichiello (Italy), Brad Takairangi (Cook Islands) and David Mead (Papua New Guinea) while Bird, Kevin Gordon, Ryan James and Aidan Sezer played for the Prime Minister’s XII.
2014
The 2014 season started brilliantly for the Titans, with the team winning five of their first six games. By round five the Titans were at the top of the table but injury intervened after round eight with the Titans in third position on the ladder after a convincing away win against Wests Tigers.
Halfback Albert Kelly was injured in that game and would play just four more games and a fortnight later five-eighth Aidan Sezer suffered a tear to his pectoral muscle.
The side dropped down the ladder after winning just two of the next 17 games as the injury toll became critical with stalwart Ashley Harrison, a Queensland representative, retiring early because of a neck injury, and Ryan James being sidelined for the season after playing just four NRL games in 2014. At one stage 15 players were unavailable because of injury.
In August, an official review into all aspects of the Titans operations had begun and head coach Cartwright announced that he was standing down, and founder and former managing director Michael Searle also stood down from any day to day involvement in the club . This saw assistant coach Neil Henry take the reins for the final four rounds. Form picked up with the Titans extended Manly, the competition leaders, for 80 minutes before going down 15-12 at Cbus Super Stadium.
The last match of the season, against grand-final bound Canterbury at Robina, was a spectacular come from behind victory and one of the club’s best in its history. Down 18-0 early in the second half, the Titans fought back to level 18-all before a William Zillman field goal sealed a 19-18 victory after almost three minutes of extra time with a 30m field goal .
The win provided the perfect parting gift for Titans veteran Mark Minichello, who was the last of the Titans’ originals to lace up his boots for the club. He had played 173 games for the Titans. Another Titans original of 2007, Luke Bailey, also retired at season end with 150 games for the club, but unfortunately missed the last two games because of a back injury. They were the last ‘originals’ after eight seasons.
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