Gold Coast Titans have confirmed the immediate departure of head coach Justin Holbrook, with assistant coach Jim Lenihan to take over in an interim capacity before Des Hasler assumes the reins for 2024.
The club confirmed the news in a statement that the decision to release Holbrook was made "to move in a new direction... towards the 2030 strategy of bringing success".
Hasler brings significant experience having coached 458 NRL games, reaching five grand finals and winning premierships in 2008 and 2011 with Manly.
He last coached the Sea Eagles in 2022 where he finished 11th with nine wins from 24 games.
“I’m looking forward to joining the Titans and to the 2024 season,” Hasler said.
“The club has a strong playing roster, the region is blessed with emerging talent and the organisation is firmly embedded in the community.
“I’m confident we can deliver success to the region in the coming seasons.”
The Titans sit ninth on the ladder and face front-runners the Broncos in a huge clash at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday in Lenihan's first game in charge.
Match: Broncos v Titans
Round 17 -
home Team
Broncos
2nd Position
away Team
Titans
9th Position
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Lenihan will steer the Titans through their remaining 10 games and look to carry them into the finals before Hasler takes control for the 2024 pre-season.
"We’re excited about what Des will bring. We think we need a winner and someone who has been to grand finals and what that brings into your organisation," said Titans CEO Steve Mitchell.
"We need to make a change, we’re not improving.
"Des will create a winning environment – it’s very unusual to have a coach of Des’ ilk in the market where he is not employed so sometimes timing is everything."
After finishing last in the previous season, the Titans would finish ninth in Holbrook's first season in charge before going one better the following year as they earned their first finals berth since 2016 with an eighth-placed finish.
However, the club struggled to recapture that form in 2022, ending the year in 13th place with just six wins throughout the year.
"We are grateful to Justin for his contribution to the club over the past four seasons,” said Mitchell.
“We are here to bring success to the Gold Coast and in order to do so we feel that this is the change necessary to deliver on our promise which is to win premierships.
"We are at a point in time where we feel our program is not achieving what we want it to achieve, nor is it fulfilling the promises we have made to our rugby league community."
