Williams handed Titans chance

NRL outcast Richie Williams has been handed a golden opportunity to resurrect his career with the Gold Coast Titans.

The former Penrith and St George five-eighth has accepted an offer by Titans coach John Cartwright to join the squad for pre-season training.

Williams, 24, who is being closely-monitored by Performance Manager Chris McLellan, hopes to gain a full time contract with the Titans.

He is currently signed to feeder club the Burleigh Bears.

“Carty has taken me on board, testing me out to see how I go, see if I still got it,” Williams said.

“I’d like to think I still do, but time will tell, I just gotta put in the hard yards for the pre-season, play the trials and see how I go.”

Despite the retirement of Mat Rogers, there are still some strong candidates for the number 6 jersey in the likes of Greg Bird, Preston Campbell and youngster Jordan Rankin.

Cartwright was quick to downplay speculation about Williams joining the squad, but admitted that the former Panther has enormous potential.

He added: “He has a lot of ability, Richie, this is probably the first pre-season he has had in a while so we know what he can do on the field and he is going to get every chance to do that.”