Inaugural Gold Coast Titans chairman Paul Broughton, OAM, has paid tribute to legendary former newspaperman Roy “Rocky” Miller for his driving role in helping support the formation of the club.
Mr Miller, who passed away in Sydney this week, was the Managing Director of the Gold Coast Bulletin at the time the NRL franchise was awarded to the Titans in 2004, allowing the club to enter the national competition in 2007.
Mr Broughton said Mr Milller, along with then Bulletin Editor in Chief Bob Gordon, not only harnessed the editorial clout of the Bulletin in promoting the successful bid but also advocated across the business community and government, as well as the highest levels of News Ltd, to help win the day.
At that stage News Ltd - now News Corporation - jointly owned the NRL along with the Australian Rugby League as part of the peace deal which ended the Super League war which split the game in the 1990s.
Mr Broughton said Mr Miller’s drive, connections and insights were vital in ensuring the birth of the Titans.
“He helped me in negotiations with then NRL CEO David Gallop and supported every bid function we hosted, ensuring the support of luminaries like Ita Buttrose, Alan Jones and Thomas Keneally. For myself, Roy “Rocky” Miller was the genuine article. He was a man who would never compromise for the sake of expediency and his advice to myself and Geoff Smith was invaluable.”
Mr Broughton said he would miss Mr Miller “as a friend whose greatest quality was his true love for his family; his sport; his profession and his friends.”
Mr Smith, Sports Gold Coast Chairman, who was also involved in the original bid group including founding CEO Michael Searle, said he had many fond memories of working closely with Mr Miller who was very much a driver of the initiative to bring an NRL team to the Gold Coast. And he did so while being an avid and life-long supporter of the St George Dragons.
When an original plan to call the team the Dolphins was discarded, the Bulletin ran a competition to come up the name of the Titans.
Former State Deputy Premier and Treasurer, the late Terry Mackenroth, also played a pivotal role when he announced the government would build what is now Cbus Stadium as the Titans home ground.
Mr Broughton said Mr Miller and Mr Gordon both worked hard to ensure that the NRL mantra - “get a stadium and you will get a licence” - came to life.
Gold Coast Titans chairman Dennis Watt, who was an admiring colleague of Mr Miller’s for many years, also acknowledged the extraordinary contribution of Mr Miller to the media industry and to the Titans.
“He was a fighter to the core and absolutely fearless in taking on any issue where he felt the battler was not being give a fair go. Here at the Titans, we shall be forever grateful for his belief in the club as a genuine source of pride and inspiration for the Gold Coast and northern New South Wales. We join with all his great friends here on the coast in expressing our gratitude for his contribution and our deepest condolences to his wife Lyn and family.”
Mr Miler’s funeral will be held at 11am next Tuesday, November 22, at St Aloysius Catholic Church, 5 Nicholson Parade, Cronulla.
