If the Gold Coast Titans are shattered by the trainer incident that marred their golden point loss to Penrith last week, they certainly aren’t showing it.
During the tense clash between the Titans and Penrith, a Panthers trainer ran directly in front of Titans goalkicker Jayden Campbell as he lined up a sideline conversion with five minutes remaining, disrupting the kick.
The distraction appeared to cost the Titans the goal, as Campbell missed and Penrith’s Nathan Cleary landed a two-point drop goal to force golden point.
The Panthers then snatched victory with a 60-metre try in extra time.
Outrage followed, with commentators calling the act disgraceful and critics highlighting past trainer misconduct by Penrith.
The NRL fined the club $50,000 and suspended trainer Corey Bocking for the final five regular-season matches, citing multiple previous breaches.
Penrith trainer Corey Bocking ran in front of Gold Coast Titans kicker Jayden Campbell at a crucial moment during last week’s match
Campbell would then go on to miss the conversion attempt, which played a part in the Titans’ loss to the Panthers
The NRL banned Bocking for five matches while the Panthers were issued a $50,000 fine
Penrith claimed the incident was an honest mistake during confusion over a substitution, with both the trainer and coach offering immediate apologies.
Now, the Titans have released training footage of players laughing and joking about the incident.
Campbell is filmed practising kicks from almost the same spot where he missed last weekend, with teammates pretending to run in front of him and distract him.
That includes captain Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, who ran alongside Campbell as he was lining up a conversion attempt while teammates laughed.
While it didn’t ease the pain of the Panthers loss, it did help lift the spirits of battling Gold Coast supporters.
‘The only thing that would have made this better is Des showing up and going off his nut “get out of the showers” style. Good stuff Titans,’ one posted.
‘This is the fun rugby league stuff that we love,’ added another.
Meanwhile Campbell has opened up on ‘that’ conversion attempt and how it cost his side a four-point buffer and a real chance of beating the four-time defending premiers.
Gold Coast players jokingly ran in front of Campbell at training to help lighten the mood after the trainer incident
Campbell admitted the incident got to him at the time, but is working on moving past it
He said the trainer incident rattled him, but he had since made his peace with what had happened.
‘At the time I was visibly upset, I wasn’t too sure what was happening,’ he told News Corp.
‘I was a bit upset but I’ve still got to make the kick.
‘Everyone’s sort of blown up. I feel like it’s a bit of a bigger deal than it should be.
‘Corey reached out to me and apologised, which I was really appreciative for.
‘I threw the kicking tee because I was upset, but it wasn’t because he ran in front of me, it was because I knew how big the kick was and I missed it.
‘I’ve learnt from it. It’s a high-pressure kick. I did have time to go back and go through my routine again.
‘If that happens again, I know what to do next time.’
While plenty of footy fans have blamed the incident for the Titans loss, Campbell wasn’t buying into that.
‘I don’t really want to make excuses to make things easier,’ he said.
‘I know it was a mistake from Corey and he was really sorry and he felt really bad about it.
‘But in saying that too I feel like if something like that was to happen again then maybe something could be changed.
‘Accidents happen, especially in the heat of the moment, so I’m not too sure.’
