Gold Coast bosses assure Josh Hannay he won’t be sacked if Craig Bellamy joins Titans

The development comes as Hannay prepares to arrive on the Gold Coast on Friday for a meeting with Titans hierarchy as the incoming head coach begins planning for the club’s 2026 pre-season.

While holidaying in the United Kingdom last week, Hannay was rocked by a report claiming the Titans were open to Bellamy potentially joining the Gold Coast as head coach in 2027.

As first revealed by this masthead, Titans bosses, including Rebecca Frizelle, who took full ownership of the club in July, have been in dialogue with Bellamy for several months as the Storm super coach weighs up his future.

Bellamy will coach the Storm next year for a 24th consecutive season, but is keeping his options open for 2027 and has flagged plans to relocate to the Gold Coast, bringing the Titans into the picture.

Mindful of Bellamy’s desire to move to the Glitter Strip for family reasons, Titans powerbrokers have been in discussions with the 67-year-old to propose a number of employment options for arguably the code’s greatest ever coach.

But this masthead understands Hannay will not be removed as head coach in 2027, regardless of whether Bellamy decides on a shock move to the Titans after two decades of dominance in Melbourne.

There is a view Hannay, who signed a three-year deal in August to coach the Titans from 2026, would be relegated to an assistant’s role if the Gold Coast poached Bellamy for 2027.

It was claimed that Hannay was fully aware of the Titans’ interest in Bellamy and would be willing to move sideways if the Gold Coast were able to achieve what the Broncos failed to do on three occasions - lure Bellamy to Queensland.

Speculation was rife that Hannay has a ‘Bellamy clause’ in his contract relating to the super coach potentially taking over the reins in 2027.

Well-placed sources with knowledge of Hannay’s contract negotiations say the 45-year-old has a series of clauses in his Titans deal specifying payout terms if he is dismissed as Gold Coast coach.

But if Bellamy agrees to join the Titans, Hannay is safe in his current position and will not be demoted.

Bellamy would be a figurehead in title only, most likely as a coaching director or mentor, with Gold Coast chiefs believing the duo could operate in a similar vein to the Cameron Ciraldo-Phil Gould alliance at the Bulldogs.

Gould also played a mentoring role to Ricky Stuart at the Roosters in 2002, when Stuart, then aged just 35, took the Bondi club to the premiership in his maiden year as an NRL head coach.

That is the sort of vision the Titans have for Bellamy and Hannay, the latter of whom is primed for his NRL baptism after a long apprenticeship with the Cowboys, Sharks and Queensland Origin teams.

Bellamy has a history of sorting out his future on his terms, often dragging out negotiations with the Storm well beyond timeframe targets.

The Titans are mindful of this and want a definitive answer from Bellamy by Friday week, 24 hours before Hannay formally starts as Titans head coach on November 1.

Hannay will visit Parkwood headquarters on Friday to touch base with Titans staff and owner Frizelle before returning to the Gold Coast the following week to begin his new chapter in coaching.

Hannay told this masthead last month that he is ready to be his own man after cutting his teeth under the likes of Paul Green, Craig Fitzgibbon and Billy Slater.

“The proof will be in the pudding,” he said.

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“I’ve been involved in NRL finals campaigns and State of Origin and the pressure that comes with that. I’ve been exposed to that on a consistent level.

“There’s no doubt the potential is there at the Titans but it’s never been fulfilled. There’s clearly challenges that have prevented the club from fulfilling that.

“When I looked at the opportunity, that’s where the appeal was, to be the coach that unlocks that potential.”

Originally published as Gold Coast bosses assure Josh Hannay he won’t be sacked if Craig Bellamy joins Titans