Gold Coast’s offer to land Justin Holbrook as their new NRL coach is all but over the line with the Titans expected to finalise the deal in the next 24 hours.
Holbrook is understood to have accepted an offer to become Garth Brennan’s successor but negotiations with his English Super League club St Helens about his release are ongoing.
The 43-year-old Holbrook’s contract with the Saints expires at the end of the current campaign with the Super League grand final scheduled for October 13.
The Titans are eager to have their new coach in position as soon as possible to begin preparations for next year.
“We can’t be rushed on this … it’d be great to have that candidate here for the pre-season, it’d be great to have them here to start afresh and new but we need to work within the complexities of the situation,” Titans chief executive Steve Mitchell said.
Mitchell refused to confirm Holbrook was the Titans’ choice but admitted he had the credentials the club was looking for.
“Holbrook brings a lot,” Mitchell said.
“He brings a lot, what he’s done and where he’s come from at St Helens, but so do all the other parties.”
Holbrook had a 17-game NRL career as a halfback at Newcastle, Penrith and the Sydney Roosters between 1999 and 2002 before moving into coaching.
After assistant roles at Canterbury, Parramatta and the Roosters he became St Helens’ head coach in 2017.
He led the Saints to last year’s minor premiership and has won 62 of 78 games while in charge.
St Helens are 10 points clear on top of the Super League ladder this season.
“Winning culture is fundamental to what we want, we need that culture through the high performance system to complement everything else we’re doing in the community,” Mitchell said.
Queensland State of Origin coach Kevin Walters had been the early favourite for the position but it’s understood he wasn’t approached by the Titans after indicating he wouldn’t be applying in the wake of Brennan’s sacking earlier this month.
Mitchell indicated the Titans hadn’t gone out of their way to convince Walters to ditch the Maroons for them.
“We had to go through a process that was equitable for everybody,” he said.
“Those that put applications in we moved forward with, just tried to keep it as straight line as we can.”