Gold Coast interim coach Jim Lenihan says he is forever grateful to Justin Holbrook, which is why it was with pleasure and pain that he reflected on a first-up win in the hot seat.
The 50-year-old guided the Titans to a vital 18-12 win over Brisbane just three days after his close friend and former colleague Holbrook was sacked as head coach.
Holbrook gave Lenihan his chance as an NRL assistant after he had proved a success in the Queensland Cup, where he guided the Burleigh Bears to two premiership wins.
“It wasn’t easy at all. Justin is a really good mate,” Lenihan said.
“He brought me in and gave me an opportunity at the Titans which I will be forever grateful for. He brought other players and staff in.
“The place got tipped upside down this week. The way we dealt with it, had to move on, processed it and came out with a win like that today was really pleasing.”
The way his side dealt with the news, refocused and got the job done was a credit to them and to their new coach.
It said a lot about the group that they were able to hang on. While they led 16-6 at Suncorp Stadium, they had also given up four double-digit leads through the season.
Not this time.
“I think we have been criticised for fading away or falling away,” Lenihan said.
“For us to defend our way to the end of the game was really pleasing. That is what we have got to keep working our way towards and try and become a side that does that more frequently.”
The Titans did it without captain Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, who was rested after playing for Queensland in the State of Origin series.
Titans stand-in captain AJ Brimson signed his contract extension under Holbrook and said he had also struggled with the week’s dramas, which culminated in two-time premiership coach Des Hasler being appointed as Titans mentor from 2024.
“It was obviously a bit of a shock coming in Thursday after the highs of being in (Queensland) camp,” he said.
“I thought Jimmy kept it quite simple … and it was handled as well as it could be after we found out that news.
“We spoke as staff and the playing group that we are all in this together now. We spoke before the game that we want to make our club proud, our fans proud and do ourselves proud.”
The Titans as a collective certainly did that and are now on 20 competition points and still in the finals hunt.
“I knew from yesterday’s training that we were going to put in a good performance and had each other’s back,” Brimson said.
“It is easy to get up against all the adversity. We’ve got to continue. We are in a great position. We have a lot of home games coming up to (help us) play finals footy. That is where our minds are at.”
