Titans rake Sam Verrills has revealed he has achieved a childhood dream under new coach Des Hasler.
As he prepares for his first hit-out with the 458-game mentor in charge, the former Manly junior was a Sea Eagles fan when growing up on the Northern Beaches, but missed out on the chance to be coached by Hasler after signing with the Sydney Roosters in 2018.
But as fate would have it, fast forward six years and Verrills is now getting ready to play his first game with the former Manly mentor at the helm after a gruelling pre-season at Parkwood.
"I’ve always been a Manly junior who supported Manly growing up and always looked up to Des wanting to be coached by him," Verrills told SEN's Mornings with Matt White.
"To finally be coached by him here at the Titans is pretty cool."
Match: Titans v Eels
Round 2 -
home Team
Titans
15th Position
away Team
Eels
10th Position
Venue: North Ipswich Reserve, Ipswich
Admitting pre-season preparations under Hasler have been nothing like he's ever experienced in his time in NRL systems, the hard work has all been about making the Gold Coast a team that other clubs fear when they face off against them.
"You look at all the teams he’s coached in the past and they’ve always been physical teams," Verrills said.
"Just look at the early days at Manly and then his time at the Dogs taking them to a few grand finals, and then what he did with Manly a few years ago taking them to a prelim.
"They’ve always been physical teams and that’s what he’s trying to instil on us. We want to be a physical team and when other teams face the Titans, we want them to be in for a big game.
"He’s driving that really hard, the players are buying in on that which is awesome and Round 1 isn’t too far away against the Dragons and we can’t wait to show it."
The Titans will show their new-look style against the Parramatta Eels in this Sunday's pre-season trial at North Ipswich Reserve, with Verrills one of 17 Titans who will play their first game of the season after Gold Coast's young brigade got their opportunity to shine against the Dolphins in the first trial last weekend.
Kick-off is at 4pm, with tickets selling fast here.
