Gold Coast Titans co-owner Matty Johns has revealed he texted Harry Grant as soon as NRL free agency opened on 1 November, as the Titans make a play for the Melbourne Storm captain and Kangaroos hooker.
“Once 1 November hit, I sent him a text and said ‘Harry, all the craziness is about to start, but one of the most important things is that we can’t let this affect the friendship and the families’,” Johns told The Courier-Mail, Zero Tackle reported.
“You’ve just got to separate the business and the relationship side of it. I just didn’t want Harry thinking that we were exerting pressure on him,” he said.
“But it would be great to land him. Players like Harry bleed confidence through a team.”
Johns’ son Cooper, the former Manly and Melbourne halfback, has a close friendship with Grant that dates back to their time together at the Storm.
Grant free to talk to rival clubs
Grant can negotiate with other clubs for 2028 after deciding not to take up a player option in his Storm contract, The Age reported. Manly have also been linked with the Queensland Origin hooker.
Read more: Storm Table Deals for Harry Grant and Stefano Utoikamanu
The Daily Telegraph has reported that Grant and his partner are keen to move back to Queensland to be closer to family, according to Yahoo Sport Australia. Grant has not signed a new deal, and the Storm are trying to keep him in Melbourne.
Why the Titans want him
Johns said Grant could pass on what he learned as Cameron Smith’s understudy to the Titans’ young players.
“Harry sat behind Cameron Smith as an apprentice at Melbourne and learned so much off him,” Johns said. “Now he could do something like that for the young guys we’ve got coming through.”
The Titans finished second last in 2026 but have Keano Kini, Zane Harrison and Jayden Campbell signed on long-term deals. Titans chief executive Steve Mitchell was more measured last week.
“There are probably 17 clubs who are going ‘is it worth having a chat to Harry?’ I’d probably put us in the same boat: contemplating,” Mitchell told The Age.
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