Footy great slams NRL team for having the worst name and mascot in the league
Just days after the Titans lost to the Panthers in a heartbreaking golden point game, Grothe Jnr teed off on 'how boring' the club's mascot was.
'A f***ing Titan, how boring,' he said on the League Lads podcast.
'Gold Coast Titans, as if you want to go for the Titans. Imagine if your team was the Titans. It's the sh***est mascot, colours.'
Grothe Jnr suggested the club should have been called the 'Miami Dolphins' like the NFL team in America and possibly because Miami is a well-known suburb on the Gold Coast.
'That place should be like the Miami Dolphins of the Gold Coast. How do you market a Titan, what's a f***ing Titan?' he said in his rant.
'Bulldogs is awesome, Eels is good because there's no other Eels, it's different, it's unique. You've got Tigers, Tigers are cool, a Bear, it's all cool, a Panther.
'Who cares about a Titan?'
Grothe Jnr claimed he was not taking any personal shots at the club, saying he 'loved' coach Des Hasler and veteran playmaker Kieran Foran.
Then he threw up a comical suggestion for the team's mascot which had his fellow podcasters in stitches.
'Even if they did something stupid like a blue bottle. At least people can put on blue balloons with antennas and the crepe paper. At least it's something,' he said.
The Gold Coast currently sit 16th on the NRL ladder and are in a wooden spoon battle with Souths, Parramatta and Newcastle.
Some of their fans reminded Grothe Jnr that he played for the Eels and mocked that mascot.
'I admit the Eels is weird but it's cool how it's the only pro sports team with an Eel for its logo,' he said.
Titans fans stood up for their club online, while many neutrals found Grothe's rant funny.
'Big Titans fan and will always be a Titans fan. I don't care about a name, I care about what this club means to me and I will support this team through thick and thin,' one fan wrote online.
'I love them too. Just spewing I wasn't there when they decided on a Titan so I could've put my two cents in,' Grothe Jnr said.
'Titans just seems like they didn't put enough thought into the whole thing.'
Grothe Jnr, who played 142 NRL games between 1999 and 2010, then took a shot at the now-defunct Western Reds after their three seasons in the top grade in the 1990s.
He mocked the choice of their major sponsor.
'Did you see their jerseys? Cash Converters,' he said.
'How's that your sponsor? I don't care how much they're paying.'
The ex-Origin player's rant comes just months after he revealed how he turned the tables an online scammer.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
13 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Revealed: The heartbreaking reason AFL star is the only player in his team who wears a black armband every game
Western Bulldogs midfielder Oskar Baker carries a reminder of a family tragedy on his arm in every game he plays as he pays tribute to his late mother by wearing black tape on his arm. Baker, 27, has been on the fringes for his entire footy career following his debut with Melbourne in 2018. He is yet to chalk up 50 appearances, but is a fan favourite thanks to his energy and tenacity. Born in Queensland, he was cut from the Brisbane Lions academy in 2015 and privately feared his footy career was over before it started. Baker's life was then turned upside down in 2017 when his mother Trudie died of cancer - and the black tape is a nod to her each time he steps out onto the field. 'Mum in many ways was my biggest supporter,' he said in an interview on the Demons website after he was drafted. 'One of the last things I said to Mum before she passed was "I'll achieve my AFL dream and get onto an AFL list". 'She would be unbelievably proud.' Baker then moved to the Western Bulldogs in 2023, but opportunities have been scarce. Off contract at the end of the season, Baker knows big performances leading into September could result in finals footy - and potentially a new deal, be it under Luke Beveridge or elsewhere next year. Meanwhile, Beveridge has refused to confirm if the Bulldogs are interested in Carlton star Jack Silvagni. Collingwood and Essendon are also said to be interested in adding the defender to their roster for 2026 and beyond. 'I think with any free agent like Jack, every club's antenna is up,' Beveridge said ahead of his team's clash against the Demons on Sunday at the MCG. 'But I've always maintained the line of not talking about who we're chatting with behind the scenes, just purely out of respect for our playing group. 'Some of our lads (are) still uncontracted, they don't need to be thinking too much about who might take their spot. 'And also probably out of respect for someone like that he's got to spend time at his current club, if he is planning to move on.'
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Lukhan Salakaia-Loto earns Wallabies call-up for South Africa Tests
Powerful lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto has earned a return to the Wallabies' squad for the two Tests in South Africa to kick off this year's Rugby Championship, but injuries in the halves have forced coach Joe Schmidt to call on Nic White a week after his supposed retirement from international rugby. The Wallabies showed progress in the series against the British & Irish Lions and won the third Test to prevent a whitewash, but they cannot afford to rest heading into the clashes with the top-ranked Springboks, who beat the All Blacks in the 2023 World Cup final. The 35-player squad is similar to the one selected for the Lions series, but with some new faces, including three uncapped players. Salakaia-Loto, who has been out of the Australian squad so far this year, wins a place after starring for the First Nations & Pasifika XV against the Lions three weeks ago. He played off the bench in the last of his 41 Wallabies appearances against Ireland late last year. Schmidt said the group has made 'some positive steps' during the start of the international season but there is work ahead. 'It's pleasing to be able to keep the core of the group together, while also leaning on some depth and fresh bodies,' he said. 'We're very conscious of how difficult it is going to be, playing South Africa on their home turf over two consecutive weekends.' Fly half Tane Edmed has been called up due to the concussion suffered by Tom Lynagh in Sydney. Lynagh himself was only thrust into the starting lineup for the Lions series following the neck injury to Noah Lolesio. Ben Donaldson has the inside running to start at No 10, having been named on the bench for all the Lions Tests. Edmed made his Wallabies debut last year against Ireland but it ended three minutes after he came on due to a concussion. He has struggled to cement the No 10 at the Waratahs this year, and has signed a contract with the Brumbies to replace Lolesio, who is leaving Super Rugby to play in Japan. There is more uncertainty at scrumhalf due to the hamstring injury to Jake Gordon that saw him miss the third Test. It means an SOS to White, who takes his place alongside Tate McDermott and the uncapped Brumby Ryan Lonergan in the squad. Lonergan's teammate in the ACT, winger Corey Toole, and new Queensland Reds recruit Aidan Ross are the other uncapped players named, although Ross played a single Test for New Zealand in 2022. He has moved from the Chiefs to the Reds this year. Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion Western Force hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa keeps his place after his belated call-up for the third Lions Test. His selection was made more likely by the retirement announcement this week of David Porecki. Young centre Josh Flook and hooker Josh Nasser joined their Reds teammate Salakaia-Loto as new faces in the squad, which will play the first Test against the Springboks in Johannesburg on 16 August. The second Test is a week later in Cape Town. Wallabies squad Forwards: Angus Bell, Nick Champion De Crespigny, Langi Gleeson, Tom Hooper, Fraser McReight, Josh Nasser, Zane Nonggorr, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Billy Pollard, Tom Robertson, Aidan Ross, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Will Skelton, Carlo Tizzano, Taniela Tupou, Rob Valetini, Jeremy Williams, Harry Wilson Backs: Ben Donaldson, Tane Edmed, Josh Flook, Len Ikitau, Max Jorgensen, Andrew Kellaway, Ryan Lonergan, Tate McDermott, James O'Connor, Dylan Pietsch, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Nic White, Tom Wright
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Footy star at the centre of betting scandal reveals why he shocked the AFL by retiring aged just 25 - and the very surprising job he's doing now
Former AFL star Jaidyn Stephenson has opened up about the mental struggle that led to his shock retirement from professional footy aged just 25. Stephenson was infamously banned for 10 games in 2019 after it emerged that he'd bet same-game multis on three Magpies matches he played in. Speaking on the What Could've Been podcast, the ex-Collingwood and North Melbourne forward said winning just eight games across 68 appearances for the Kangaroos ruined his appetite for the game. 'I had games where I had 24 (disposals) and kicked three, and then you come out of your game review, and I felt pretty flat,' the 2018 AFL Rising Star winner said. 'It was like, "I've done this wrong and I've done that wrong" – is it because we lost or is it actually what it is? 'I don't know, everything just seemed to be amplified, and I obviously didn't deal with it well enough. Stephenson (pictured with Collingwood stars Nick and Josh Daicos) was banned for 10 games in 2019 after it emerged he bet same–game multis on three Magpies matches he played in 'Eventually I just didn't want to be there — fell out of love with it, was over it. It was tough.' The former No.6 draft pick, who spent four seasons at the Kangaroos after his three years at Collingwood, started to consider his future in the game at the end of his second year at Arden Street. 'I had that off–season to think about things, and we'd won like four games in the two years I'd been there, I'd played every game, and I just thought, 'Geez, this is a real drag',' he said. 'I didn't want to go back. '(But) I was like, I don't really have a choice, I'm signed for two more years. 'In the end it was just deflating.' Stephenson – who played in the 2018 grand final for the Magpies – now works as an apprentice refrigerator mechanic. He plays local footy for his junior club Ferntree Gully in the Eastern Football Netball League – and regrets not considering another AFL club before hanging up his boots. '(At the time) I thought I'm better off just getting out of the AFL bubble completely and just seeing how life is outside of that,' he said. 'Now I look back, it probably may have helped had I gone somewhere else.' Stephenson also courted controversy when he stated in 2021 the Covid pandemic was overblown by the media.
