North Sydney have emerged as the Bad News Bears for the Gold Coast Titans ahead of Friday night's NRL clash with Parramatta.
Gold Coast half Kane Elgey says the Titans have enough to worry about without renewed speculation that North Sydney are preparing a $7 million takeover bid of the NRL club.
The Titans are already reeling from a horror injury list and a winless start ahead of their round three home clash with ladder leaders the Eels.
Gold Coast coach Neil Henry is considering recruiting Sydney Roosters centre Dane Copley in a bid to inject backline depth, as 12 players are either injured or unavailable.
Elgey said the Titans players were determined to ensure the North Sydney speculation was not a distraction.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"This is just another thing," Elgey said of the report.
"It's come up a few times over the last couple of years.
"It's up in the air. It's in the paper. But we haven't discussed it as a team."
The report claimed that if successful the club would change its name to the Gold Coast Bears, wear North Sydney's traditional black and red jersey and play three games a year in NSW with the rest at the Titans' Robina base.
The NRL took over the Titans when the club went into voluntary administration in February 2015.
It is understood the NRL want to offload the Newcastle Knights before putting the Gold Coast up for sale.
Titans director Darryl Kelly has rubbished the North Sydney speculation, saying the NRL wanted to sell the club to a Gold Coast based consortium.
"They understand the impact on the fans and the community and they're not prepared after all the work that's gone into re-establishing the Gold Coast Titans name, to throw that away and start again," Kelly told The Gold Coast Bulletin.
"It can't move from the Gold Coast. They (NRL) are committed here now."
Another name change may also go against the North Sydney bid.
Since their 1988 inception, Gold Coast have been known as the Giants, the Seagulls, the Gladiators, the Chargers and the now the Titans.
