Player knew of drugs scandal, kept quiet

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TITANS' officials feel let down by one of their own players who knew of the investigation into alleged cocaine use one month before charges were laid.

The Courier-Mail can reveal one of the Titans players was aware of the investigation weeks before the Queensland Crime Commission laid charges.

The player sought legal advice but did not tell club officials of the possible pending crisis.

Titans CEO Graham Annesley speaks to the media about the future of the Titans. pics Adam Head Source: News Corp Australia

There is no suggestion the QCCC have leaked information to Titans players or their associates.

The player has told friends he was not allowed to speak about the issue but some Titans officials feel he should have informed them regardless.

Titans chief Graham Annesley has been the public face of the cocaine scandal that rocked Queensland sport after being blindsided by the QCCC's charges against five of his players.

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It was only yesterday that NRL chief Dave Smith answered questions from the media.

Annesley, coach Neil Henry, the football department and the majority of Titans players were only informed of the charges via the media.

Some of the club's officials feel they have been left in the lurch, forced to move out of their Southport School training facilities and make policy on the run.

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While one Titans player knew weeks before, the majority of the remaining five former and current Titans only received word they were implicated in the wake of Karmichael Hunt's charges.

Some of the Titans players took the field for a trial in Cairns last Saturday knowing they could be charged the following day.

Yet even then, a number of club officials remained in the dark.

The charged players are all expected to plead not guilty and are on a collision course with their club if they are suspended prior to having their day in court.

Lawyer for five of the current Titans facing supply and possession charges, Campbell MacCallum, told The Courier-Mail that legal action was an option for his clients.

It is understood Titans officials have also been made aware that legal action is an option if they suspend any of the current five players pending the outcome of the judicial process.

Gold Coast Titans player Greg Bird reports to Southport Police Station to be fingerprinted. Picture Glenn Hampson Source: News Corp Australia

NRL chief Dave Smith sidestepped the issue of independently punishing Titans players and backed their right to innocence until proven otherwise.

"Like you and me they will be given due process and allowed to follow natural justice," he said.

"Once facts emerge we will decide what the appropriate course of action is.

"We can't presume guilt before players or anyone in society has had the right to a fair and natural justice."

Titans players facing charges, including Dave Taylor and Greg Bird, met with detectives on the Gold Coast again on Tuesday.

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Cocaine more prevalent in Sydney: Rogers

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TITANS hall of fame member Mat Rogers has rubbished the Gold Coast's reputation as a drug capital and says cocaine was "around" far more during his career in Sydney.

Rogers told The Courier-Mail that drugs were more prevalent when he was based in Sydney, playing for Cronulla and the NSW Waratahs, than they were during his four seasons at the Titans.

Rogers loves the Titans and said it was a cultural issue at the club rather than the city of Gold Coast that may be behind the Titans' cocaine allegations.

Titans player Dave Taylor at the Southport Police Station with his lawyer Campbell McCallum. Picture Glenn Hampson Source: News Corp Australia

"I'll go on record as saying that I was around it, as in hearing stuff about it, more in Sydney than I was up here," Rogers said.

"It is not a Gold Coast thing, it is a culture thing.

"If you are a professional sportsman then there is a certain element of society that will get around you.

NRL TAKES CONTROL OF THE TITANS

COKE INVESTIGATION FOLLOWS LINES TO SYDNEY

PLAYERS COULD SUE IF TITANS IF BANNED

"You have to be strong and remember you are a professional athlete."

Rogers played for the Sharks from 1995 to 2001 and then the NSW Waratahs from 2002 to 2006 before becoming an inaugural Titan.

The son of league great Steve, Rogers had an outstanding career, playing 200 NRL games, eight State of Origins for Queensland and 11 Test matches.

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He is gutted that the club has been put through another scandal but backed the current administration to sort the mess out.

"This is just sad. It is not looking great is it?" Rogers said.

"The club administratively is at its strongest but from a player behaviour point of view it is at its lowest.

"They can survive. In six months' time, they can be winning football again. Time heals everything.

"In the early days at the Titans we had a very strong culture within the club.

"People got comfortable. When things go wrong at the top, it filters down.

"Some players get their nose out of joint when things are wrong at the top and they think well if they are doing that then we can do this.

"Neil Henry is starting to get the culture going again though which is why I think administratively they are moving in the right direction.

Gold Coast Titans player Greg Bird reports to Southport Police Station to be fingerprinted. Picture Glenn Hampson Source: News Corp Australia

"They are bearing the brunt of poor decisions last year and previous years."

The NRL has also backed the current board with chief executive Graham Annesley and the board members maintaining their positions under the new NRL ownership.

NRL chief Dave Smith also confirmed player and staff contracts would be carried over to the new entity.

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Frizelle vows to help rebuild Titans

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TITANS chairwoman Rebecca Frizelle has promised to deliver the Gold Coast a football club they can be proud of after the NRL delivered the gift of life on Tuesday.

Frizelle joined the Titans board in April 2014 and after 11 difficult months trying to salvage the shattered empire built by Michael Searle and kept alive by white knight Darryl Kelly, Tuesday's change of ownership to the NRL is the breakthrough she needed to get the club back on its feet. From a position of imminent death, the Titans now boast a surety to climb to a position of strength.

David Smith, Graham Annesley, and Rebecca Frizelle. Titans board meeting at the Gold Coast Council Chambers. Pics Tim Marsden Source: News Corp Australia

Frizelle promised the new regime won't repeat mistakes of the past.

"This is the turning point for the club and the Gold Coast," Frizelle told The Courier-Mail.

"The Gold Coast deserves a strong rugby league club, this is rugby league heartland. Today that has been delivered.

NRL TAKES CONTROL OF THE TITANS

COKE INVESTIGATION FOLLOWS LINES TO SYDNEY

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"Quite frankly (the club) couldn't have survived ...

"The only responsible action the board could take was to place the company into administration.

"We now have to roll up our sleeves and start rebuilding this club.

"It's fair to say we've been stripped back to the bare core over the last few days and it's been a very challenging and difficult time for everyone concerned.

"But these times bring out the best in everybody including our community, our sponsors and our members. The overwhelming support we've received has just been incredible.

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"I can't explain what confidence that gives us in what we're doing is the right thing."

Frizelle paid credit to the support of the local community.

"We have a great city of people down here. When times are tough, this is when we shine," she said..

"With the CEO and the current board, we will deliver to the Gold Coast a club they can be very proud of."

Right now, that remains a key issue for the Titans. Their brand is at an all-time low.

The club must fill three major sponsorship positions on the jersey worth $1.5m, while five players are on charges for supplying cocaine and are set to face court within days of the club's first home game of 2015 next week.

The Titans had become known as the Titanics such was the tarnished nature of their brand.

But Frizelle was adamant the club would always remain Titans and would get the business sailing into smooth waters as soon as possible.

Titans players at board meeting at the Gold Coast Council Chambers. Pics Tim Marsden Source: News Corp Australia

"The brand is incredibly important," she said.

"It belongs to the Gold Coast and I have absolutely and nor does the board have any interest in changing that branding.

"That is what it was founded on and will remain as the Gold Coast Titans."

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More cocaine arrests in coming days

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THE Gold Coast Titans were officially declared insolvent and went into administration as the Crime and Corruption Commission confirmed more sports stars could be arrested within days in connection to the cocaine crisis engulfing the club.

Six past and present Gold Coast Titans, including Greg Bird and Dave Taylor have already been charged with supplying cocaine, with the two Origin stars presenting to police to provide their fingerprints.

Titans player Dave Taylor pictured at the Southport Police Station with his lawyer Campbell McCallum Picture Glenn Hampson Source: News Corp Australia

As revealed by The Courier-Mail on Tuesday, Smith and the NRL saved the Titans football club by becoming full owners, ending years of crippling debt, unpaid bills to local contractors and financial issues.

It was the NRL's only choice to rescue a $1bn television rights deal that demands a 16-team club competition due to start in eight days and a stadium agreement with the Queensland government.

NRL TAKES CONTROL OF THE TITANS

COKE INVESTIGATION FOLLOWS LINES TO SYDNEY

PLAYERS COULD SUE IF TITANS IF BANNED

Mr Smith conceded the club's future now hinges on whether it can restore its reputation.

Investors including Titans founder Michael Searle and white knight Darryl Kelly have lost at least $22 million in the deal, but Mr Smith attempted to paint it as an "exciting" day for fans saying the new regime would rebuild the brand, reconnect with the community and create a club to make the Gold Coast proud.

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"We will make sure this is a club you can trust whether you're a sponsor, a fan or a little boy or girl watching on television you will trust this club because we're going to build a great club and we're all going to be proud of it," he said.

"I can stand here and look you in the eye and tell you the Titans have a long term future.

"I'm not pretending there's no problems, what I'm saying is there is a long term future and we stepped in, the club has a good board, good management and will now move forward."

The Titans players caught up in the scandal were last night served with notices to front the club board and provide documentation of their upcoming court cases.

It comes as the CCC confirmed more charges were likely.

"Based on current information the CCC expects any further arrests of current and former sportspeople will occur by the end of this week or early next week," it said in a statement.

Gold Coast Titans player Greg Bird reports to Southport Police Station to be fingerprinted. Picture Glenn Hampson Source: News Corp Australia

After reporting to the police station, Bird spoke briefly of his heartache as he faces the possibility his NRL career is over, if found guilty.

Guilty verdicts to drug supply charges carry a four-year ban under rules from the World Anti Doping Agency.

Asked how difficult a time it was proving for the NSW Origin star, he replied: 'very' before driving off in a car marked with logos from the Titans and club sponsor Frizelle's.

Taylor made no comment as he left his meeting.

Tuesday's statement from the CCC also made clear none of the players arrested in the past week are alleged to be involved in the trafficking of cocaine.

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Only 26 members have sought a refund since the cocaine scandal broke, while more than 150 have signed up to the club, which also confirmed a temporary training base at Miami's Pizzey Park.

"The Gold Coast realised the Titans were in trouble and decided to get behind us and help," chairwoman Rebecca Frizelle said.

"When times are tough this is when we shine."

CEO Graham Annesley and Ms Frizelle will work with the NRL in coming weeks to determine if more staff reinforcements are needed to get the club back on its feet.

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Worthy MVP winner for Melbourne United

Melbourne United's Mark Worthington has won his team's inaugural Most Valuable Player award. Source: Wayne Ludbey / News Corp Australia

MARK Worthington has capped off a stellar NBL season by winning Melbourne United's inaugural Most Valuable Player award.

The Melbourne co-captain took out the club's main award at the club's gala awards night function at Sketch at Docklands last night.

While import Jordan McRae was the NBL's second leading scorer this season, there is little doubt Worthington is the deserved winner.

United's heart and soul this season, Worthington averaged 12.6 points per game, hitting at 48 per cent from the field, and grabbed 7.2 rebounds per contest over the NBL season.

Playing in 27 games, Worthington had five double-doubles and a season-high 26 points, which came in Sunday's season-ending win over the Sydney Kings.

Melbourne closed its first NBL season with a 13-15 win-loss record to finish in fifth place on the ladder, missing the playoffs by three games.

Worthington is one of three United players believed to be under contract for next season, along with big man Daniel Kickert and David Barlow.

Both Kickert and Barlow will undergo post-season surgery, but Worthington will avoid going under the knife for the second consecutive off-season.

There will be changes for next season, but the make up of the squad will depend on who wins the head coaching position.

While the group failed to jell this season, it still remains one of the deepest and talented rosters in the NBL.

Speaking after Sunday's game, Worthington urged caution when tinkering with the current squad.

"The likes of Perth, Cairns and New Zealand have kept a steady roster over many years then rotated one or two imports — they have been successful in this league," Worthington said.

"But I don't have the power.

"Ideally I think maintaining the majority of the roster and building to something (is the way to go), because if this doesn't hurt a little bit for next year then you shouldn't be playing basketball at all."

In other awards, co-captain Nate Tomlinson took out the Defensive Player of the Year award and guard Owen Odigie was the Most Improved Player winner.

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Webber: Vettel is better off at Ferrari

Webber believes Vettel's switch to Ferrari will suit him. Source: QUIQUE GARCIA / AFP

FORMER Formula 1 ace Mark Webber says his former Red Bull Racing rival and racing partner Sebastian Vettel will be better off for having left the team at the end of last season.

Four-time world-champion Vettel will have his first race for Ferrari at the Australian Grand Prix next month, after six years with Red Bull.

In his final season he was comprehensively outshone by Webber's replacement, fellow Aussie Daniel Ricciardo, who won three races and finished third in the drivers' championship.

Webber believes Vettel, with whom he had regular run-ins both on and off the track, had made his decision to switch teams a long time ago and as a result had lost his hunger for racing for Red Bull.

Time will tell whether the Red Bull will miss the experience of the German driver who won 38 F1 races with the team.

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"Seb's not a silly guy and he realised that he needed fresh motivation and a new change and I think the decision was made very early, probably before the season even started to be honest," Webber said.

"The line is not 'they won't miss Vettel', the line is that when he wants to do something else and be in a different environment, then he is better off going somewhere he might feel he will get more out of himself.

"That's definitely a question for the team halfway through the season, whether they are missing some of that experience."

Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel during their time together at Red Bull. Source: AP

Webber names Mercedes, whose racers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg finished first and second in the drivers' championship last year, as the team to beat again in 2015.

He said McLaren and Williams were in the ascendancy and predicted a "solid" season for Red Bull and Ricciardo, assuming they can get the car right.

"Obviously a wealth of knowledge and Daniel's experience is only going to help him," Webber said.

"They are lacking a little bit of continuity at Red Bull now — there are a few people who have left the team. So that will be interesting to see how technically good the car is over the course of a full season, not just at the start.

"They will be a solid outfit and to match last year will be another good achievement for Daniel. He will want more — he will want to fight for the championship and Lewis and Nico will be the hardest nuts to crack."

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Vettel has been replaced at Red Bull by 20-year-old Russian driver Daniil Kvyat, which makes Ricciardo the senior driver at Red Bull this season. Both drivers, as did Vettel before them, made their way up the grid through the Toro Rosso team.

Webber, who will call this year's Australian GP for Channel 10, applauded those drivers for paying their dues, as opposed to the rise of so-called "pay drivers" who have secured places on F1 teams through sponsorship dollars or family fortunes.

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"It's always exciting when you have a youngster who comes in on merit and does very well," Webber said of Kvyat.

"We have a few guys on the grid who have paid their way into Formula 1 and that's rubbish — that's not what we want in the sport.

"The depth of the field has dropped off a bit in the last two or three years and all of us drivers at the front are disappointed with that.

"We want the depth all the way through and the best young talent coming through the back of the grid."

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