Titmuss inquest could have far-reaching consequences for NRL,pre-season training

For the last 20 years,Des Hasler media conferences have often been more entertaining than his football teams.

You never know which Des you’re going to get. Funny Des. Fired-up Des. Mad scientist Des,who delivers quirky,cryptic answers to straightforward questions that leave reporters wondering what it all means.

Hasler will leave all those theatrics at the door when he appears in the NSW State Coroner’s Court on Friday as the inquest into the death of young Manly playerKeith Titmuss on the first day of pre-season training in November 2020 continues.

Few coaches stand by their players as much as Hasler,on and off the field.

When he coached Manly the first time,he was unwavering in his support of fullbackBrett Stewart as he successfully defended himself against sexual assault charges.

When he coached Canterbury,Hasler was adamant captainJames Graham did not bite Storm fullbackBilly Slater’s ear in the 2012 grand final. Even after the judiciary hearing,which showed various replays from various angles of Graham gnawing at Slater’s ear,Hasler kept pleading his player’s innocence.

Doubtless,Hasler and his coaching staff remain devastated by what happened to Titmuss on that dreadful day at Sea Eagles training at Narrabeen. It’s been tough to listen this week to the evidence presented.

After a field session that lasted more than an hour and a half,players entered the Sea Eagles’ wrestling dojo for a cardio session.

After 15 minutes,Titmuss had to stop because he was suffering cramps,then had a seizure,howling uncontrollably in distress.

The inquest heard how his body temperature was 41.9 degrees when paramedics arrived — a reading so high they had never seen it before.

Titmuss died at Royal North Shore Hospital later that day of cardiac arrest. He was only 20 years old.

The inquest is examining the appropriateness of the response of Manly’s players and support staff to Titmuss’ medical emergency,and whether the training was too intense for his level of fitness.

It is not a criminal trial and no Manly coaches or staff members have been accused of criminal conduct.

Hasler,who has left Manly and is now coach of the Gold Coast Titans,did not want to comment when contacted on Thursday,but those close to him say he is eager to provide his version of events.

Few coaches stand by their players as much as Hasler,on and off the field.

The NRL received a report from the Sea Eagles following Titmuss’ death but has been waiting for the inquest to run its course before deciding if further action should be taken.

Counsel assisting the coroner,Adam Casselden SC,told the court at the start of the week that Titmuss most likely suffered exertional heat stroke.

On Thursday,two cardiologists said the player had a rare heart condition which meant 70 per cent of a main artery was blocked,but it wasn’t the probable cause of his death.

The NRL has a well-established heat policy,which applies to both game-day and training sessions. It is determined by several factors but not exclusively temperature and humidity.

It was 24.9 degrees on the day of Titmuss’ death and,even though humidity was at 92 per cent at 9am,the NRL has assured me its policy was not breached.

In a statement tendered on day one,Hasler described training that day as “not an over-strenuous or taxing session”. His assistant,Chad Randall,rated it as a “seven of 10″ in terms of intensity.

Other players have testified that the coaching staff made it clear that players could take a break if they felt overly fatigued,although back-rowerJosh Schuster felt it wasn’t an option. “Not with Des as our coach,” Schuster said.

While this may speak to Hasler’s demanding approach to preparation,it’s no different to how coaches at other clubs prepare their teams. Most players would feel uncomfortable stopping during a training session,fearful of being overlooked for selection or worked even harder later in the week. They do not want to show weakness.

For this reason,the Titmuss inquest could have wide-ranging consequences for every NRL club and possibly other codes.

There’s a fine line between conditioning footballers both mentally and physically to play a brutal collision sport and taking them beyond their breaking point.

But what’s the line and who determines it?

Clubs no longer push the limits as they once did,training in 46-degree heat outside or turning off the air-conditioning in the gym,but many still push their players to the point of utter exhaustion.

Last season,Parramatta five-eighthDylan Brown was rushed to hospital suffering from dehydration and placed on a drip. Then there are the Bulldogs,who had a player walk out after being subjected to a “brutal” wrestling session as punishment for being late to training.

“We’re the worst team in the competition right now,” is how Bulldogs general managerPhil Gould justified the incident at the time.

Clubs push their players like this because it yields results.

Broncos players still credit their 2000 and 2006 premierships to gruelling army camps in the Gold Coast hinterland that left them on the verge of tears or ready to fight coachWayne Bennett.

Melbourne players will tell you something similar aboutCraig Bellamy’s approach. Retired captainCameron Smith says the Storm win more close games than they lose because their players are conditioned to be still standing in the final minutes when their opponents are dry-heaving lactic acid.

But it won’t surprise if the coroner recommends greater transparency around pre-season practices.

On Wednesday,former Manly high-performance manager Don Singe broke down while providing evidence,pleading with the NRL to formalise the processes around players returning to training.

Of course,the wider implications for rugby league are secondary to the closure the Titmuss family seeks.

Titmuss’ parents,Lafo andPaul,have been in court all week.

The first day was harrowing,but for the rest of the week,Lafo has sat quietly in the gallery,diligently taking notes as the inquest continues.

She will be listening intently when Hasler takes the stand on Friday.

Is Solly the next to step into NRL hot seat?

As revealed by colleague Roy Masters,a cohort of club chief executives want chairmanPeter V’landys to walk away from racing and become executive chairman of the NRL.

The push is more out of frustration with chief executiveAndrew Abdo than support for V’landys,who essentially runs the game out of the offices of Racing NSW,of which he is also chief executive.

V’landys’ extraordinary smackdown of Abdo in an interview withThe Daily Telegraph on Monday,in which he said his “weakness” was getting into “arguments” with various stakeholders,has been the talk of the game this week.

He told Masters he has no desire to take over from Abdo,although that might change if the Minns governmentdoesn’t appoint a Racing NSW chair aligned to him.

Remember,V’landys personally endorsed Abdo to replaceTodd Greenberg, but his frustration is starting to show.

If not Abdo,then who?

South Sydney chief executiveBlake Sollyhas been linked to the job before - and V’landys has become one of his biggest fans.

During a meeting between the NRL and club bosses in 2021,V’landys famously called Solly a “flea f---er” because he was asking too many questions about funding.

More recently,though,he’s been lavishing Solly with praise,mostly because Solly played a critical role in breaking the impasse between the RLPA and the NRL during collective bargaining agreement negotiations last year.

V’landys now describes Solly as a “can-do” operator.

‘Long-time listener,first-time caller’. We’re back on the air

Can you smell that?

That’s the NRL season just around the corner — at least that’s what I think it is — and that meansMorning Glory with Matty Johns is back on the airwaves of SEN 1170.

Now in its fourth year,the show returns on Friday from 9am. I will join Matty,Bloke in a Bar tycoonDenan Kemp,ever-patient producerBen Hogarthand panel operator/beaterAlex “The Maestro”Molchanoff as we talk about sport,movies,music,life,lost love and forbidden fruit.

Please join us.

THE QUOTE

“The cars and the jewellery and all the other dumb shit that don’t matter. Means absolutely nothing. I see a lot of these young kids get so unfocused about stuff that is so material. Just worry about the game. If you worry about the game,everything will take care of itself.” — NBA starLeBron James,who started with nothing but now has a net worth of $1.5 billion.

THUMBS UP

WhenCarl Weathers was a linebacker for the Oakland Raiders,coachJohn Madden told him,“You’re just too sensitive”. He went on to become a Hollywood actor,playing iconic roles in several sports movies,includingApollo Creed in the first fourRocky movies and Chubbs,the one-handed golf instructor inHappy Gilmore. Weathers died in his sleep last week,aged 76.

THUMBS DOWN

England captainBen Stokes has been bashed up for saying DRS technology “got it wrong” in the lbw dismissal ofZac Crawley in the Test against India. Stokes made it very clear he wasn’t blaming the dismissal for the loss. And he was right:that delivery was DEFINITELY missing leg stump. By a metre. Maybe two.

It’s a big weekend for … Western Sydney Wanderers coachMarko Rudan,who channelled Michael Douglas inFalling Down last weekend when he scorched the referees and the A-League in general. Good on him. Wanderers host the Newcastle Jets at CommBank Stadium in the crowd-friendly timeslot of 5pm on Sunday.

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It’s an even bigger weekend for … Perth tradie-cum-punterMitch Wishnowsky,who lines up for the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVII. He played in their loss to the Kansas City Chiefs four years ago and will be trying to reverse the result against the same opponents on Monday morning AEDT.

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