38 Wish List

TEAM PLAYER

As the Titans prepare to do battle on field, off field Chairman Dennis Watt is a powerhouse of organisation, networking and community spirit.

A FORMER JOURNALIST and newspaper executive, Titans Chairman Dennis Watt lives and breathes footy.

In his former role as general manager for rugby league for News Corporation, he helped stabilise and then sell the Melbourne Storm to its existing owners following the club’s salary cap issues of 2010, culminating in a premiership in 2012.

This was followed by a four year stint as Chairman of the Brisbane Broncos.

Since taking on the same role at the Titans four years ago, Dennis has witnessed the club’s growing success in both the NRL competition and the Gold Coast community.

How did you get involved in with the Titans? As I was leaving the Broncos at the end of 2017 after the construction of the club’s new $27m high performance headquarters, I was approached by the Frizelle and Kelly families after they had won their bid to take over the Gold Coast Titans’ licence.

I had long admired the efforts of Darryl Kelly and Rebecca Frizelle while they were on the earlier Titans’ board to do their very best to ensure that the club was a genuine source of pride and inspiration for the Gold Coast and northern New South Wales.

They are people of great integrity and selflessness and with a real passion to serve their communities.

With the destiny of the club fully in their hands, they were even more determined to ensure the club was successful.

Their vision was to create a pathway for young boys and girls all the way from grassroots to national and international representation.

It is so heartening now that after four years we are working closely with schools and local clubs and leagues to provide those pathways.

We are genuinely proud that we now have a respected NRL side; a new and talented NRLW team making its debut this year and we will also field women’s netball teams in the state Sapphire and Ruby competitions. What is your role and what does it entail? As Chair, my focus is very much on ensuring we maintain high standards and healthy relationships with each other and our key stakeholders.

When you start, the first two priorities are having the right people in place working within the right culture.

We have been blessed from the outset with a talented and committed board.

I worked closely with the owners in the early stages ensuring we had the right leadership team in place and now under CEO Steve Mitchell and Head Coach Justin Holbrook they are continuing to build the capacity of their teams.

We are fortunate that we have many of the very best people in Australian sport in key roles at the club.

What is the most challenging part of your job? With many of the building blocks now in place, the focus is on incremental improvement and the maintenance of high standards.

We need to keep striving and aiming high.

The job is never done. There is a continual focus on living up to our values and our determination to make ourselves, our families and our communities proud.

We aim to inspire and unite all those whose lives we touch.

And the most rewarding? This is an organisation with a massive heart and there is a DNA here which consists of love of colleagues; love of club; love of game; and love of community.

I simply love seeing the uplifting impact we have as a club and a game on the people who follow us. Our community work in the fields of inclusion, Indigenous education, game participation and the disability sector is simply heartening and best in class.

Who or what inspires you? Those people who dedicate themselves to serving others and on the Gold Coast, or Australia generally, I can think of no finer example than the Queensland winner of the Australian of the Year last year, Dr Dinesh Palipana, the state’s first quadriplegic medical doctor.

Dr Dinesh, a disability advocate and qualified lawyer, works in emergency at the Gold Coast University Hospital and is a doctor for our club’s disability teams.

He is also involved in ground-breaking research in the spinal injury field.

To me, it seems that Dr Dinesh’s every waking moment is dedicated to helping others. He is selfless to a fault and whenever you talk to him, he is simply so grateful for the opportunity he has to serve others. A truly great and inspirational Australian.

Is there any particular project or goal on your ‘wishlist’? Well, we are definitely in the business of bringing premierships to the Coast, whether NRL, NRLW or Titans’ netball teams.

But we are also very much looking forward to owning and developing our own home, whether here at Parkwood where we are tenants or elsewhere on the Gold Coast.

We need more space to accommodate our new teams and our growing junior base.

What is your vision for the Titans? As mentioned, our vision is that our communities are genuinely proud and inspired that we represent them, both on and off the field.

By excelling in rugby league, netball or through our community programmes, we want others to be inspired to excel in their own fields.

At the end of the day we will be judged by our performances and we are mindful that winning amplifies all our good work in the community.

But personally I am so proud of this club and the people in it.

As Nelson Mandela said, sport really does have the power to change the world for the better and here at the Titans we believe we are privileged to represent this area and its people.

“This is an organisation with a massive heart and there is a DNA here which consists of love of colleagues; love of club; love of game; and love of community.”

– Dennis Watt

What legacy would you like to leave behind both on a personal level and from a Titans point of view? I would like to think that I was a catalyst to help create opportunities for others and that this club and this wonderful game of ours continues to grow as a genuine force for good.

Outside of work, what are your interests/hobbies? I am still a news’ junkie which means I spend too much time following it all at local, state, national and international level.

But equally I have a love of history, believing in the mantra that unless you learn from the mistakes of history, you are condemned to repeat them.

I have a special interest in military leadership. In the case of Australians who served, I seek to honour them through learning their stories and valuing their sacrifices. Lest we forget.

What makes the Gold Coast home? While the Coast truly is one of the most beautiful and most liveable places in the world, there is an energy and an entrepreneurial can-do spirit here which sets us apart.

From here, you get the feeling anything is possible.

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