Cameron Smith tipped for first NRL job as coach nears exit and ‘big call’ imminent

NRL icon Cameron Smith has been tipped for his first coaching role in the competition: with the Gold Coast Titans job potentially available in the coming days and weeks.

Titans coach Des Hasler is believed to be on the brink of exiting the club. Reports have intensified that Hasler will step aside at some stage following a turbulent season.

Brisbane Broncos great Corey Parker speculated this week that the club should make an immediate change if rumours Hasler was going to retire at the end of the season were true – and former NRL half-back Josh Reynolds has suggested Smith as a possible candidate.

Defeat this weekend would all-but end their hopes of the play-offs and that has enhanced rumours Hasler could be sacked, with a clause in his deal that the Titans can remove him from his post if they do not have a chance of making the finals.

Smith has been linked with the Kangaroos job and been open about the prospect of wanting to coach Australia.

But Reynolds said the Titans should make a ‘big call’ and go for Smith.

“I think they need to go after a big fish, his name has been tossed around for a few jobs at the moment, someone like Cam Smith,” Reynolds said on SEN Radio.

“Lives up there. They need a winner. I know Cam Smith hasn’t done any coaching, but they need someone who knows how to win. That’s all he has done his whole career. It could be a big call.”

It would certainly be a bold call, given how Smith has never held a head coaching role in his career and has hinted he would be keen to take on the Kangaroos job.

Current Queensland assistant coach Ben Ikin is another who has been linked with the Titans role should it become available – which appears to be an increasingly likely possibility as the days go on.