Gold Coast Titans head coach Josh Hannay has ruled out the idea of his club chasing any more spine players if it will be at the detriment of the club's current crop of players.
Hannay is blessed with some of the best young talent in the game in the key positions, with Keano Kini at fullback, Zane Harrison at halfback, and Jayden Campbell at five-eighth.
The Titans have also signed Luke Hanson from the New Zealand Warriors for next year, while the club also have AJ Brimson on the books, although it appears he will be a centre as long as he stays at the club.
Hannay said he has no intentions of recruiting any players into his spine, unless the feeling was they could add more to the club through their experience than on-field efforts.
"We certainly won't be making any changes to our spine. They are going to be special," Hannay told the media this week.
"That's the point I'm probably trying to make. You can look at it, and look at their youth and inexperience and get desperate, go and sign some veteran that might fill a hole for a year and all you're doing is stunting the growth of someone who is going to be special for you.
"Anyone we bring in is going to be brought in to complement what we have got.
"We are a little young at the moment to be frank, and that's fine. If you're talking about complementing what we have got, we'd be looking at the market in terms of experience, but not bringing in experience at the detriment of the development of a young player.
"It would just be to come in and complement, guide some standards, how to carry yourself as an NRL player and add some depth to our group.
"I'm bullish about what we have got, and the most important thing for this club is to hold on to what we have got, and not to look for answers outside of these four walls.
"The answers are here. We are working really hard, and we will coach the backsides off them to get to where we want to get to as quick as we can."
The Titans are well stocked right across the 19, which has shown signs of life in recent weeks.
Gold Coast, who has been inconsistent, managed a couple of wins on the trot before falling short against the New Zealand Warriors last week, where Harrison's season was cut short due to a hamstring injury.
Maybe the biggest open market question for Gold Coast will be the plight of Brimson, who has been regularly linked with a departure from the club this year, and has previously said he wants to play in the spine, not the centres, although will line up anywhere for the good of the club.
If he does leave, it will free up significant cash for the Titans to extend and upgrade their excellent crop of young players, which doesn't just occur in the spine.
Led by Arama Hau, the club also have a talented base of forwards, while Oliver Pascoe's form at dummy half has been tremendous in recent weeks.
The Titans also have most of their Top 30 filled for next year with only a few spots left, leaving the likely result that they will do nothing on the free agency market until at least November 1.
