Gold Coast coach Garth Brennan maintains the NRL club's recent appointment of assistant coach Luke Burt and other former Parramatta support staff was not done simply to appease Jarryd Hayne.
Burt, who played with and coached Jarryd Hayne at the Eels, began life at the Titans this week, joining new strength and conditioning gurus Hayden Knowles and Craig Catterick.
Hayne is contracted to the Titans for 2018 but is strongly linked with a move back to Parramatta once he returns from holidays in January.
But, in an unprompted address to media after training on Tuesday, Brennan said the trio's links to the 29-year-old did not weigh into his decision to hire them.
"(Their appointments) are all in relation to their ability and I felt it was disrespectful to those guys that they were reported as me bringing them to the Gold Coast Titans simply because of their relationship with Jarryd," Brennan said.
"They're here cause they are the best people for the job."
Burt was shifted to the wing to accommodate Hayne at fullback in 2009, while he also had a hand in coaching the side in 2014.
While he has no doubt the two-time Dally M Medal winner can recapture the form he showed then, Burt said he wasn't in a position to coax Hayne into staying on the Gold Coast.
"I wouldn't do that; the decision is between him and the club," Burt, who piloted Parramatta's under-20s to last year's grand final, said.
"I'll stay out of that and when he makes his decision I'll go from there."
An accomplished goal-kicker during his 264-game NRL career, Burt said he would take on a mentoring role with Ashley Taylor to develop his two-point expertise.
