With Des Hasler officially out the door at the end of 2025, it hasn’t taken long for the Gold Coast Titans to move on a replacement.
The Titans have confirmed Josh Hannay is set to take up arguably the toughest coaching gig in Australian professional sport with a three-year deal starting next season.
Currently working as assistant under Craig Fitzgibbon at the Sharks, Hannay, 45, will become the first Queenslander to be full-time head coach at the Titans.
Born and raised in the coal mining town of Moranbah, roughly 200 kilometres southwest of Mackay, Hannay attended Townsville Grammar School where he was signed by the North Queensland Cowboys.
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The closest the Titans have come previously to a Queensland head coach was Ipswich-born Jim Lenihan who served in an interim capacity for 11 games in 2023 following the departure of Justin Holbrook.
The Gold Coast Titans entered the NRL in 2007 under inaugural coach John Cartwright who guided the club for 186 games until 2014.
Reflecting the monumental task confronting Hannay, Cartwright’s modest win rate of 45.3% remains the best coaching return in Titans history.
While the Titans will be Hannay’s first full-time NRL head coaching role, he has previously served as caretaker coach at both North Queensland and Cronulla and also been an assistant to Billy Slater for the Queensland Maroons.
Twelve months ago Hannay is understood to have been close to landing the vacant Parramatta Eels head coaching position, before being edged out by Jason Ryles.