May 2009

The Making of the Prince

Role model, playmaker and co-captain Scott Prince is leading the Jetstar Gold Coast Titans into the 2009 NRL season with a flying start

The Making of the Prince

WORDS HUGH BALDWIN

The honeymoon is a distant memory. The daily struggle for NRL supremacy is now a reality for the Jetstar Gold Coast Titans and co-captain Scott Prince believes that his side is ready to make its mark.

“With the two years we’ve spent together we’ve had players come and go, but they’ve all played a role in our history and in our culture,” Prince says. “Now I think it’s time — now that we’re two years old, two years into the comp — that we really step up to the mark and be counted. To set the standard, from our point of view, that means playing some finals football.”

From the moment the Jetstar Titans stepped across the white line for their inaugural season in 2007, they have been anything but easy-beats. The rigours of the long NRL season, however, have meant that the Titans have not made the play-offs in either of their first two years.

“The first year was certainly the honeymoon,” Prince says. “We were all on a high, everyone was yahooing about the fact that we were in the comp. That we just fell short [of the finals] was disappointing.

“Then in 2008, unfortunately, with injury we fell away at the end. But there’s something we learnt after the last two years: consistency is one of them, being able to get up mentally and physically for our away games. We have that to overcome. Our away record statistically is pretty horrendous.”

Prince hopes the Titans become one of the “top quality challengers of the comp”, which they have achieved on the home soil of the impressive Skilled Park at Robina, but away from home it’s been a different story.

“When you play away you’re out of your comfort zone,” Prince says. “Your family’s not with you, you’re living out of a bag. It’s only a night or two, but your preparation changes. The club is very professional, trying to keep the same preparation for away games all the time, but it’s certainly one area where we need to improve. If we do, it’s going to keep us in good stead for a good year.”

One main difference for the Titans in 2009 is size. The squad has spent the off-season focusing on being bigger and stronger, thanks to new club conditioning coach, Chris McLellan.“His main focus is on power,” Prince says of McLellan. “Everyone has been talking about how much bigger and stronger we are this year, but I really think it’s not so much that we’re bigger but we’re actually better from one right through to 25 in terms of depth.

“We have real competition for spots this year and that just makes everyone perform at their best each week, regardless whether they’re playing in the NRL or with our feeder club sides.

“The most exciting thing about us this year is that we aren’t playing anywhere near as good as we can play and we’re still winning games, so fingers crossed, we can keep everyone fit and on the paddock and achieve our goals this year.”

The Jetstar Titans got off the mark in spectacular fashion with an impressive come-from-behind win over the Newcastle Knights, who wilted in the Gold Coast heat.

The team’s first test away from home came in the second round against the St George Illawarra Dragons but, despite Prince using his ‘soccer skills’ to open the scoring, it was an unsuccessful trip. That was quickly forgotten as the Titans overcame the Bulldogs, then the Melbourne Storms and North Queensland Cowboys for an impressive four from five start to the season.

The year also marks the next stage in the personal evolution of Scott Prince, as he confirms his place among rugby league’s elite. It’s been 13 years since he joined the North Queensland Cowboys on scholarship as a 16-year-old. Since then, he has tasted almost all the success the game has to offer: captaining an NRL premiership-winning side (the Wests Tigers) in 2005, winning the Clive Churchill Medal in that same grand final, playing State of Origin for Queensland and playing in the green and gold for Australia.

The last decade or so has encompassed time at four NRL clubs, from the Cowboys to the Brisbane Broncos to the Tigers and now the Titans, but it has been more of a dream than a blur for Prince.

“I grew up in Mount Isa, a pretty isolated place up in north-west Queensland,” he says. “Growing up, you want to be a part of something. You always want to be like the old man. He worked in the mines, so obviously that was my destiny, to work in the mine, to grow old there, have a family and just live the life of a country boy,” he reminisces.

“But I always had that dream: State of Origin time, watching the footy, having the dream that one day, I could be a part of that — not really thinking that it could come true. I still pinch myself now.

“I try to help out as much as I can in terms of giving back to the community, back to the kids, because that’s where it all started. It’s been a rollercoaster ride but at the end of the day, it still hasn’t finished for me.”

Being the captain of an elite sports team comes with a lot of responsibility, on the field as well as off, and Titans coach John Cartwright made a seemingly wise decision of splitting the captaincy between Prince and prop forward Luke Bailey.

“The demands when you’re off the field are really high. On the field, it’s just a matter of sharing the workload,” says Prince. “I think that ‘Bails’ is a leader by action and he’s a great role model for any young forward, not only in our club but the league in general. I guess for myself, I’m looked at as the general director of play.”

The Titans offer an attractive style of play on the paddock, thanks in no small part to Prince’s chemistry with the effervescent Preston Campbell, who won the Titans Player of the Year in 2008 and whose spontaneous ways dazzle fans and opposition players alike.

Prince finished last year as part of Australia’s World Cup squad and came away with some advice that he is likely to share with his Titans teammates as they move into the next phase of the club’s evolution.

“I remember [Australian coach] Ricky Stuart saying that all players should enjoy the good times,” Prince says. “There are a lot of lows in our game and so when the good times come along, it’s important to enjoy them. To get on with it and work hard, but to make the most of the good times.” Prince hopes that the Jetstar Gold Coast Titans make the most of 2009.

PRINCE’S TRAVEL PLANS

I went to Hawaii with Jetstar as part of the Titans and I’m looking forward to going back there and taking the kids. I always enjoy going back to Northern Queensland, just for a relaxing time outside of footy season. I’ve been down the whole east coast: Cairns, Townsville, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. I haven’t been to Perth, but it’s a place I’d love to go. I think it’s important to get to the beach with the kids and there’s nothing better than swimming on the Gold Coast beaches — that’s for sure.






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