Gold Coast Titans Head of Performance and Culture Mal Meninga has revealed the club’s desire to secure the long-term future of star utility Jayden Campbell.
Campbell has played a crucial role in the Titans’ 3-2 start to the season despite coming off the bench in four of the five games.
Coach Justin Holbrook hasn’t been afraid to change up his spine mid-game in favour of injecting Campbell into the mix, playing him for over 55 minutes in two games this season off the bench.
Campbell is contracted until the end of 2024 and is free to negotiate with rivals from November 1st of this year, something that Meninga is keen for the Titans to avoid.
“Jayden is a local junior and we are fighting tooth and nail to keep him at the club,” Meninga said on SENQ Mornings.
“I know Jayden is extremely happy where he is at the moment, very happy with his time and place obviously, bigger things are going to be in the future for him.
“At this stage, we are working really hard behind the scenes to make sure Jayden is at our club for a lot more years.”
Meninga admits that Campbell’s flexibility coming off the bench and playing in multiple positions should be commended.
“He’s on the bench obviously and he’s playing a lot of positions, it’s a tough gig sometimes coming through the grades,” Meninga added.
“Being a local junior trying to push your way into first grade, he’s had quite a number of first grade starts already in his career and he’s done terrifically well.
“He’s a patient young fella, he’s very sensible with what he does, we’ve got AJ Brimson who is one of our leaders at our club, he’s (Campbell) just got to bide his time.
“If you’re playing too well, you’re going to find yourself in that position, then we find another position for AJ but they’re both excellent players and no doubt will both play for Queensland very soon.”
Jayden Campbell has retained his spot at fullback for the second week as the Titans prepare for a local derby against the Brisbane Broncos on Saturday night.
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