The Gold Coast Titans board made the only decision they possibly could have in axing Des Hasler.
But they never should have been in that position in the first place.
The Titans, at this point, have almost become a cautionary tale for rival NRL clubs about how not to handle things at the top of an elite rugby league organisation.
The appointment of Hasler was one which could have turned the Gold Coast into a force, but roster decisions, a team not suited to Hasler's style, and frankly, bafflement over previous decisions, have left the Titans in an untenable situation with the veteran mentor.
In the end, a team that were close to the bottom last year, and at the bottom this year meant Hasler had to go despite recent assurances from ownership that he was safe and would see out his contract in 2026.
But make no mistake, a change of coach on the glitter strip is anything but a guarantee of flipping the script for the team who have made the finals just four times since they joined the competition as team number 16 in 2007.
The Gold Coast has, for whatever reason, been a place sport goes to die over the years, and the Titans are doing anything but bucking that trend.
The issue is that decision-making at the top is not exactly filling anyone with confidence about their path forward.
As much as Hasler had to go, and it's not just their on-field results, but squad management, with Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, David Fifita and Beau Fermor all seemingly looking for the exit while the roster sits in a place with three fullbacks but no elite halfback, there is a very real argument to say Justin Holbrook should never have been sacked in the first place.
The Titans had their best run of results under the coaching of Holbrook, really, since the early days of the club's existence under the coaching of John Cartwright, when they finished third and fourth in back-to-back seasons, in 2009 and 2010.
Holbrook had coached them to ninth and eighth in 2020 and 2021, a mark which was a considerable turnaround for a club that had picked up three straight wooden spoon finishes in the years prior under Neil Henry and then Garth Brennan, who lasted less than two full seasons in the top job.
Holbrook's Titans had a rough 2022 campaign, before he was axed midway through 2023, despite the Gold Coast showing considerable improvement and sitting on the edge of the top eight.
Holbrook's overall win percentage in charge of the Titans makes it look like he had to go, but that was realistically anything but the truth.
Still, Gold Coast management decided to blow up the 2023 season by sacking Holbrook after Round 16 when the Titans held a six and seven record.
The risk to sign Hasler was seen as worth it.
Of course, hindsight will say that the decision was simply not a good one.
But it's not the only time the Titans have raised eyebrows with their decision-making.
While Garth Brennan was never given a proper run in the top job, you could argue the same applied to Neil Henry.
Taking over from John Cartwright in 2014, he had a season finding his feet in 2015 before being able to make some considerable changes at the club in 2016 and finding the finals.
But one could argue it should have been so much more than simply ‘making the finals' that year.
While they'd go out in Week 1 to the Brisbane Broncos after a 44-28 dressing down from eighth spot, they had run into considerable form through the middle of the year, only for the club to inexplicably sign Jarryd Hayne.
It was a sugar hit at the time that was seen as a move to put bums on seats.
It certainly succeeded in that department, but on the field, the Titans only won four of their last ten games with Hayne in the team before going out in the opening week of the finals.
Their style of play, built on grit through the first half of the year, noticeably changed with the arrival of the Hayne Plane.
The following year, the Titans finished in 15th and Henry was gone by the midway point of the season despite coaching the club to a rare finals appearance - their first in six seasons - just the year before.
Hayne too was gone by the end of 2017 in a move that stunted the growth and development of the Gold Coast.
Not since the turn of the 2010s have the Titans looked a competitive side, and while the number of coaches they have been through doesn't raise eyebrows, the fact that no coach since Cartwright who left in 2014 has had more than four seasons in charge does.
At some point, it stops becoming a coaching decision, and starts becoming a management one.
In every sport around the world, success starts in the front office. It starts with a strong program, it starts with strong recruitment, and a strong culture.
Clearly, the Titans are lacking just that. Players want to leave, players don't hit their potential, and the roster management isn't good enough.
This is a club who have played four finals series in almost two decades.
Josh Hannay faces an uphill battle when he arrives in Robina.
He is highly rated and just maybe, he can be the man to turn this club around for good.
The management will sure be hoping that is the case, because they should all be paddling in the last chance saloon.
