He can hear the rumblings but Garth Brennan has made an impassioned plea to club powerbrokers to allow him to finish the job he started and finally give the Titans an identity of their own.
On Friday night he returns to Penrith where he had great success in the lower grades under immense pressure after the worst start to a season in the club’s history led to a review of the football department by Mal Meninga that will be presented to the board on Monday.
Brennan’s tenure as Titans coach has been the subject of great debate since the review was announced with many predicting he won’t be given the opportunity to complete his contract that runs until the end of the 2020 season.
The continued struggles of the Titans and the Suns in the AFL regularly raises questions about the viability of national sporting teams on the Gold Coast but Brennan is adamant the Titans are moving in the right direction.
Having cut his coaching teeth at two clubs with entrenched connections to their local community at Newcastle and Penrith, he has talked often about the benefits in promoting local talent and wants to continue to play a role in bringing it to fruition.
"Of course I'd like to continue on in my role. I'm contracted for next year and I'm still very focused and very driven on success here at this club," Brennan said before Thursday’s captain’s run.
Panthers v Titans - Round 17
"I'm very driven about making this a community-based club full of as many Gold Coast products as I possibly can because at the end of the day it will mean more to them than players who come from outside the area.
"There are some really good things going on within the club. In my time here there's been some really good young kids that have developed and are probably our shining lights in AJ Brimson and Moe Fotuaika and those sorts of guys.
"We haven't given the fans enough reason to celebrate and cheer this year as what we would have liked but the identity needs to be locally based.
"Let them feel like there's a real connection to the town and to the fans. It means that little bit more to the players if they feel like they're representing their home town.
"Newcastle has that. They had three wooden spoons but the supporter base stayed strong and stuck together and now they're up in the top four. The town got behind the club on the basis that they understood that they were having a crack and that it was going to take time and they were heading towards a goal that they had and I think that's what we can have here at the Gold Coast Titans."
Club legends such as Preston Campbell have told NRL.com the direction they would like to see the club take with Meninga’s review promising to deliver a holistic blueprint for the football department.
Maroons coach Kevin Walters has been widely touted as the front-runner to replace Brennan should the club wield the axe, Brennan not oblivious to the fate that may befall him.
We haven't given the fans enough reason to celebrate and cheer this year.
Garth Brennan
"I know there's plenty of noise going on out there but I live in a little bubble when I get away from work," said Brennan.
"I'm focusing on preparing the team for the weekend's game. That's all I'm focused on. I don't get caught up in all the other stuff.
"I know there are things being said and words out there – I'm not silly, people tell me that. I can't hide under a rock. But honestly it doesn't faze me. I focus on what I can control."
