Keith Titmuss: Manly Warringah Sea Eagles player dies aged 20
Keith Titmuss, a 20-year-old prop with NRL club Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, has died after falling ill following training.
The young forward fell ill while warming down from pre-season training, which began last week, on Monday morning and was transferred to Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital, where he later died.
“We are all devastated by this news,” said Sea Eagles head coach Des Hasler. “Keith was a very popular character among the playing group. He will be sorely missed but never forgotten by the Sea Eagles.”
Titmuss was yet to make his full NRL debut, but was in the Sea Eagles’ squad for next season and played for the club’s junior sides.
“This is a tragic day for rugby league,’’ NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said. “The game has lost a promising young player with the world at his feet. We will make sure Keith’s family, the club and our players receive every support they need from the game.
“We are one family and today we have lost a member of that family. On behalf of the [ARL] Commission and the game I send my deepest condolences to Keith’s family.”
Des Hasler vs Manly: The new Battle of Brookvale
It’s not the first time Hasler has taken a former club to court.
The early ending of an NRL contract is seldom without some kind of drama. Especially when it involves the ‘Mad Professor’, Des Hasler.
Upon leaving the Manly Sea-Eagles in 2011 after a premiership at the helm, it was reported that Hasler’s relationship with club-owner Scott Penn had become untenable. Penn had claimed evidence of Hasler poaching coaching staff from the Sea Eagles in preparation for his move to the Canterbury Bulldogs.
Hasler was terminated for ‘a breach of contract’.
He took the Bulldogs to two grand finals in 2012 and 2014, but his impact on the club would be felt further down the line as the club found itself immersed in a highly pressurised salary cap dilemma, unable to be active in the player market for years to come after his dismissal in 2017.
