If you have been anywhere near the Gold Coast over the last two weeks, I am certain you would have heard about the Titans' latest campaign to increase membership game attendance figures. #TitansFullHouse was plastered across the Gold Coast, with local radio stations, social media accounts and local media outlets all getting on board the campaign. As a longtime fan, it was nice to see the club try to bring back some supporters who had lost their way over the eight years the club has been in the league.
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But how successful was the campaign? There were 14,319 fans at the club's 2015 season opener - more than the 2014 first home game which saw 12,038 people come through the gates, but still far less than the 27,000-seat capacity of Cbus Super Stadium.
I don't think we can measure the club's success by a win in the first round or the amount of people that came to the first game. What we must do is look at the enormous task that was put to the team in pre-season and the transformation the club has gone through since.
Look to any of the successful sporting clubs across the country and what you see is a solid base of loyal supporters who form the foundation of the club and keep it moving through thick and thin.
The club is trying its hardest to connect with the community, but it isn't quite cutting through. It might be because we have such a diverse range of people on the Gold Coast, or because of the competition from professional sporting clubs such as the Gold Coast Suns, Brisbane Broncos and Queensland Reds.
The fact is that the Gold Coast is a rugby league heartland, and this hasn't made it any easier to crack. Sport is god to millions of Australians, so this is no excuse for the club. As it stands I don't know whether the Titans will be able to hold out another year of disappointing results. The flurry of scandals and internal instability makes it more important for us to reach the finals. We need this.
As a team we haven't reached a final series since 2010. Bringing home those premiership rings in 2015 is one way supporters are sure to return.
I didn't think we were going to be able to field a team a couple of weeks ago when five players were excluded from playing pending criminal investigations. Yet we managed a respectable result without the likes of Dave Taylor and Greg Bird.
The Titans clung to the hope they would be successful in their first game of the season after an 18-18 score at the 78th minute. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. The Tigers took a drop goal and secured their first win for the year.
We saw great performances by William Zillman and Josh Hoffman. We need to nurture this talent. It's all well and good contracting stars such as Daly Cherry-Evans, but without the foundation of solid performing players, we cannot win.
Now that the first game is done and dusted, an even bigger task awaits and that is to get momentum and build on the shallow performances of last year. We need to take our focus off the issues that are currently plaguing the club and get on with the job.
I am sure this will not be the end of the drama that is the Gold Coast. The city certainly seems to live up to its reputation. But we will carry on. Lets keep engaging with the community; keep offering incentives for locals to get involved. I am keen to see us thrash it out against the Panthers on Saturday night. #ThruNThru!
Deon Savage is a third year Journalism/Business student at Queensland University of Technology. He lives and works on the Gold Coast and loves everything sport. Follow him on Twitter: @deonsav