Whilst some may think the following comment is simply an opinion, Gold Coast Founder, Michael Searle, has compared Titans coach John Cartwright to master-coaches Wayne Bennett and Phil Gould, as the new contract signed by Cartwright will mean that he will be in charge of the club for 9 years.

In a show of faith that you very rarely see these days in the NRL, let alone any sport, the Titans made the decision to retain Cartwright as their coach, and they agreed on a new 5-year deal, that will keep Cartwright at the club until the end of the 2016 season.

“He (Cartwright) has that gravitas of Bennett and Gould. He’s a man who epitomises all that is good about our club,” said Searle.

“We said when we founded the club the appointment of the coach would be the biggest decision we make and Carty is the man we wanted.”

With the Titans firmly believing that a title challenge is imminent for their team, on the back of consecutive finals appearance, the Titans believe that John Cartwright is the man who can guide them to premiership glory.

“Having someone with John’s personality is important, the fans know he’s real, he gets his hands dirty,” said club CEO Searle.

Much like the master-coach Wayne Bennett, Cartwright has built his primary coaching principles on those which some may refer to as old-fashioned, yet innovative and the knack to bring the best out of players, both experience and young.

“It’s very humbling to be honest in an industry where you don’t see that type of deal all that often,” said 45-year-old Cartwright who played 184 games for Penrith and 18 for Australia.

“It’s a good feeling knowing Mike and (chairman) Paul (Broughton) have faith in what we’re doing and have done.

“For me, it’s good to have that security on a personal level and a football level because it gives you scope to keep building for our future.

“It’s comforting to know I’m going to be there for that.”

Whilst many coaches are praised on the field, it is not often that they are praised off the field, but in this case, Cartwright is praised on both.

Due to his strict levels of discipline employed on his players, it is no wonder the Titans have very few blemishes, scuffles or incidents involving players, which is not bad work on Cartwright’s behalf, given that the Gold Coast is the party capital of Queensland.

“He’s largely responsible for this club not having any off-field incidents in the first four years,” said Searle.

“If you had framed a market about that in 2007, I’m sure a lot of bookies would have been very happy because a lot of people would have taken the odds.

“It’s been his commitment to discipline and the core values we all built together that seen him remain so strong.”

By ricky

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