Gold Coast Titans Honours - History - Inaugural Season (2007)

Inaugural Season (2007)

In February 2007, the Titans played their historic first game in a trial against the previous season's Minor-Premiers and Grand Finalists Melbourne Storm, previously the newest club in the League (apart from the merged teams). They were beaten in the club's first hit-out but over the following weeks, Cartwright fielded his full strength team in two other pre-season trials, winning 22–10 over the Parramatta Eels for the club's first victory. The following week in the team first played in front of their home fans on the Gold Coast, they ran out 28–6 winners over the Penrith Panthers. Although merely trial matches, the signs were positive for the Titans' debut season to come.

The Titans played their first official match in Round 1 of the 2007 NRL season against the St George Illawarra Dragons. Their first game was moved from their home ground, Carrara Stadium, to Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane due to the huge demand of fans eager to see the new Gold Coast outfit in action, and on 18 March 2007, in front of over 42,000 people they made their debut. Gold Coast performed admirably but after falling 14 points behind in the second half 20–6 they couldn't manage a full comeback losing a tight match 20–18. Former Queensland State of Origin winger Chris Walker, who had been released by Melbourne Storm due to off-field troubles in 2006, started his rugby league comeback scoring two tries and two conversions for a 14 point haul for the Titans.

The close loss to the Dragons wouldn't last long in the memories of Titans fans as a week later the Gold Coast franchise recorded their first official victory in another tight match, winning 18–16 against the Cronulla Sharks at home. The start of the season saw the Titans only manage four wins in the first ten rounds but a mid-season five week long winning streak of four wins and a bye saw the Titans sitting in the top four at the conclusion of Round 15. The streak was ended in a poor 22–6 loss against the New Zealand Warriors at home, then they slumped to a 5-match losing streak which included a golden point loss to the Brisbane Broncos in Round 17 and a 56–10 loss at the hands of the Canberra Raiders in Round 18. The Titans wouldn't register another win until Round 21, but by then they had already slipped to 11th position and needed to obtain maximum points from the final four rounds to confirm a spot in the finals in their maiden season. The side only managed one win from the final four matches, however, missing out on the finals. In the final round, a 50–6 thrashing at the hands of eventual Premiers Melbourne Storm ended the Titans' debut season on somewhat of a sour note, with the young Gold Coast franchise finishing the season in 12th position with 10 wins, 14 losses and a bye for 22 competition points.

Despite having an outdated home ground (Carrara Stadium) as they waited for their new stadium (Skilled Park) to be completed, the Titans had the second-highest average attendance of all NRL clubs for 2007.

At the end of 2007 Luke Bailey and Anthony Laffranchi were named co-winners of the club's inaugural Paul Broughton Medal for best and fairest player of the season.

In their debut season, the Gold Coast club had turned over $16 million.