Gold Coast, the party town, finally has reason to celebrate in NRL - Gareth Ellis

Obviously, we had a bad run at Hull before I came out of retirement but I also remember going on a long sequence of defeats early on in my career with Wakefield Trinity.

It is a tough place to be when you’re losing. It’s exactly the opposite to when you’re winning.

When you’re winning you have that belief you can win any game, no matter how far behind you are on the scoreboard or how long’s left on the clock.

Whereas when you’re in that rut of losing games, it becomes increasingly more difficult to win and it seems the more you try, the worse things seem to get.

It spirals. It’s a tough cycle to get out of. But it’s those periods where you find out a lot about each other and your team.

You have to work hard through those periods. And you have it personally, too, with your own form; you can’t constantly keep going on that projectile of going up, up and up, improving every game. You have periods where you think you’re going stale or the rate of progression is not what you thought it’d be.

I’ve experienced that but I remember speaking to Gary Price about it when I was at Wakefield. I explained I felt I’d improved and now wasn’t going where I wanted to go. But he said that’s the case for every player and it’s then how hard you work in those periods that will bring you through to the other side. Not only that, it will make you better. It’s the same for a team; work hard, that win will eventually come.

Gary (Gary H Price who played for Great Britain as there was two around at the time) was a good mentor for me at Wakefield.

There was people like him, Andy Fisher and Steve Hall, who’d been around for a while and come through the ranks.

He offered me good advice at an early age and advice that I took with me. In fact, when I speak to younger players who fear the same now or fear opportunities aren’t coming their way, I always revert back to what Gary said to me as it was so true.

Going back to Gold Coast Titans, it’s interesting to see what will happen with them.

There was always a lot of talk about expansion in the NRL and it’s probably more prominent in Australia than here.

The Gold Coast was the last expansion club brought into the NRL, going back 13 years now since they were formed.

Richard Mathers, at Leeds Rhinos, signed for them before they even started although he knew they’d be in the comp’ in the following year 2007.

There was a lot of hope about it and it bridges the gap between Sydney and Brisbane. It attracted a lot of players early on and some big names like Preston Campbell, Scott Prince and Mat Rogers.

Given where it is with the climate and things like that, it was the new thing about town. They were competitive.

When I was in Sydney, Titans were getting good crowds as well but in recent years that appeal’s dwindled a little and performances have gone that way as well. They’ve attracted a few players by throwing big money at them but they haven’t settled or come up trumps. A lot of that probably comes down to the culture of the club. I’ve never been there but the Gold Coast is a bit of a party town and you have to wonder if that’s had an effect on performance and culture.

To go so long without a win is disappointing but to eventually get one – unfortunately against my team Wests Tigers – and for Justin Holbrook to get his first win, too, is great.

I can imagine how he will feel today and he’ll be hoping to get some more wins now.

Holbrook did really well over here; St Helens’ record under him speaks volumes really.

But I was quite surprised he took the Titans job; for someone who’d done so well in Super League he might have given it a year or two longer and then seen what’s available. At that point, the Gold Coast didn’t seem a desirable job. Rather a tough task for even the greatest of coaches.

Saints weren’t in great shape when he arrived but he certainly turned them around so – as much as it’s a different scenario – he probably envisaged he could do something similar with the Titans. Let’s see how they go now.

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