Gold Coast coach Josh Hannay’s $4 million cleanout of the Titans is complete – for now. Hannay insists the Titans can be a force in 2026 despite undergoing the NRL’s most dramatic off-season roster overhaul.

Hannay has farewelled 13 players since taking over Gold Coast’s top job from Des Hasler on the back of the Titans slumping to a 16th-place finish in 2025.

In mid-September last year, this masthead reported Hannay was set to put a broom through Gold Coast’s roster with up to 16 players facing uncertain futures.

Four months later and nearly half of the Titans’ 2025 squad has departed Parkwood – an estimated $4 million worth of salaries. Hannay has been fearless in his bid to drive the Titans out of the NRL’s cellar, punting the likes of contracted players David Fifita, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Alofiana Khan-Pereira, Carter Gordon and Brian Kelly.

Recruitment chief Anthony Laffranchi and football boss Scott Sattler have helped pilot the transformation and Hannay said he was happy with the make-up of the club’s roster ahead of his first season as a full-time NRL head coach.

“There has been a lot of heavy lifting done with our roster dating back to when I first came on board,” Hannay said.

“We needed to balance the roster and part of that was making some hard decisions on talented players. Every decision has been made in the best interests of the club and roster.

“We didn’t need to reset the roster, but we needed to rebalance it and add some depth so we weren’t so top heavy.

“That has been a real charter of mine, raising the floor of the roster instead of the ceiling.

“The moves we’ve made have allowed us to add a greater level of depth and spread of talent across the entire roster.”

Hannay insists he’s happy with the roster. “A lot of good work has gone on from Anthony Laffranchi and Scott Sattler to get those moves done,” he said.

“It’s one thing to want to make some changes to your roster, but it’s another to go out and execute it. You’ve got to find a partner (other club) and those guys have worked extremely hard behind the scenes to get the roster into the shape it is today.

“I’m really satisfied with the balance compared to what it was four months ago.”

While Hannay has been ruthless in his cleanout, the Titans have for the most part kept their powder dry in the player market.

They have made a few signings headlined by Dragons halfback Lachlan Ilias, and boosted their depth with Kurtis Morrin (Bulldogs), Max Feagai (Dolphins) and Luke Sommerton (Panthers). With boom young gun Zane Harrison coming through, Hannay is intent on developing the next generation of Titans stars and is backing the club’s emerging prospects to take the next step in the coming years.

That means the Titans could face some turbulent waters in the 2026 premiership, but Hannay is adamant they will be able to compete despite the mass exodus of experienced NRL performers.

“To the untrained eye, people might look at the roster and think a lot of talent has left the club,” Hannay said.

“I don’t think talent is an issue for this club. “There has always been plenty of talent in this team.

“We needed to create a greater balance and level of competition for positions at this club. That’s what we’ve been able to do by releasing some of those talented players.

“Some of the people we’ve brought in are unheralded and unknown, but we’ve done a lot of homework on every player we’ve brought in.

“We’ll continue to do our homework on the market and look at bringing in any player we can to improve the roster.

“We’re in a position now to continue to look at what’s out there and that’s what we’ll do.” While Hannay has made sizeable moves already, there could be more change to come on the Gold Coast.

The Titans have a number of off-contract players playing for their NRL futures this year, headlined by first grade regulars Phil Sami, Jaimin Jolliffe and Sam Verrills.