For Titans CEO, Steve Mitchell, the importance of the NRL's Indigenous Round holds significance for club and family.
The Titans boast the strongest contingent of Indigenous players in the NRL and it is a statistic that the club shares with pride, because on the Gold Coast, Indigenous people have shaped the club from the beginning.
"You can't understate the contribution of Indigenous people to the Titans since the inception of the club," Mitchell said.
"We have the highest quantity of Indigenous players in our top 30 roster (of the NRL clubs) and our first and only Life Member is Preston Campbell.
"We have an absolute commitment and a responsibility to the First Nations people of our region, to call that out and celebrate their culture."
Titans foundation player, Preston Campbell has led the NRL's focus on Indigenous Australians and was the founder of the NRL All Stars concept for which Mitchell's son, Anthony, was selected to play for the Indigenous All Stars in 2011.
For Mitchell, Indigenous Round is about his club, but it is also about his family.
"My kids are Indigenous, my extended family are Indigenous, we have got a social responsibility to help our people and that is collectively as a group," he said.
Watching the work his Mother did in the Indigenous health space inspired Mitchell to continue to support that focus today.
"When I was a kid my Mother was one of the Doctors in the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Health Service in Brisbane and then in Murgon and I grew up right on the face of that," Mitchell said.
"She did a lot of work and she was brave, she took on the state government, she took Joh (Bjelke-Peterson) on in regards the provision of Indigenous health services.
"I have a high level of appreciation for the disparity of services between the community and the First Nations people.
"As I have grown older I am actually watching that early mortality rate actually take effect and I knew that was real as a kid and you think 'oh yeah, it is what it is,' but it is real."
The Titans club have always embraced their community and Mitchell wants that to continue long into the future.
"If you have a look at the young men we have got here in our top 30 roster and their contribution to not just on the field but off the field and the way they embrace community, they are inspirational and we want to see future eight and ten year-olds coming along and doing the same thing in a decade from now for our club," Mitchell said.
"That is a focal point for our club and something we want to see great outcomes in."
Titans Reconciliation Day Video 2021
