The Titans of Coal team has returned victoriously from Las Vegas, crowned the NRL Rugby League Vegas 9s champions. Titan IND Director Troy Sawdy said that while the competition was a fantastic opportunity to promote the sport in America, more importantly, it was an opportunity to strengthen Titan IND’s core values around mental health and sport.

The competition in Vegas is not the first time Titan IND has fielded a rugby league team and that’s because Troy’s passion for the sport goes back as far as he can remember. As soon as he could hold a football he was on the field.

“I played for 22 years straight, starting at age six. I loved the game, but I also loved what you got out of it. The culture around a club and the mateship, knowing you have each other’s back and have a safe place where you can talk to your mates and feel comfortable.”

While Troy might have given up playing the game, it’s still a big part of his life, especially when it comes to running Titan IND.

“Our employees participate in events across the country because mental and physical health is hugely important to us. We were the first contracting company to put a team into the Battle of the Mines competition and currently we sponsor four teams in local clubs. I also helped build a club off the ground a few years back.

“I’m not actually quite sure how we got invited to the Vegas comp. I got sent an email from the NRL inviting us to participate so I guess someone put a good word in!

“We pulled together talent from all over the mining industry, an apprentice from Ralston, a trainer and assessor that works out at Goonyella, two players from Singleton, and we were lucky to pick up a couple of ex NRL players, Todd Carney and Cody Nelson.

“We took fifteen players, some of our Titan IND employees to help out and I was coach and manager. We had a sponsor for each player and then we covered the rest of the cost so it was a significant investment for us, but we got a lot out of it.

“It really amazed me how everyone in the company got behind it, getting up at 4am to watch the games live, that was pretty inspiring.”

Troy said they will definitely head back to Vegas next year to defend their title and he’s aiming to take a men’s and women’s team over and possibly an under 20s team as well.

Todd Carney has already put his hand up to go back.

“It was a great opportunity to experience Vegas with a group of guys who were coming together to compete in the NRL Vegas 9s under Troy’s leadership. One thing I’ve learnt in retirement is you don’t let opportunities go if you get them,” said Todd.

“For me rugby league is all I know, and I know if I’m struggling in life on or off the field, getting into a game with a good group of guys takes my mind off it. Through my darkest days, the 80 minutes of rugby league was the place that took those issues away.”

The Titans of Coal played four games on the first day, followed by the finals on the second day and were undefeated. In addition to bringing home the cup they also won US $6000 in prize money.

“The prize money is a bonus so we want to give it to someone who can do some good with it. It comes to about $9600 AUD, so I’ll be topping it up with a bit of money I won on the blackjack table to make it an even $10,000,” Troy said with a grin.

While they haven’t locked in which charity they will donate to yet, Troy said it will most likely be related to mental health, mining and rugby league.

“Rugby league for me has always been the place where I have found mateship and comradery, and so I have tied to emulate that with Titan IND. I believe that there are so many connections between a good team and a good company.

“That culture of feeling safe and knowing that all the people out there in the paddock have got your back. It’s the same thing when you go to a mine site.

“On a footy field a great team is the one where you go that extra mile for your teammates, a great maintenance crew is the exact same thing. It’s a team that will put in the extra effort and always have each other’s mental health, wellbeing and safety at the forefront. When you care about your team and your mates it all comes so much more naturally than when you don’t know who you are working with.”

Troy said to help promote this culture they established the Titan Ambassadors Program, a team of leaders who understand the struggles faced when working in the mining industry.

“While mining is a great place to make money and has a lot of opportunities it can be difficult. Shift work, away from home, long hours, all those kinds of things.

“We’ve set up the program so each ambassador has a group of employees that they check in with once a month, see how they are going and if they have anything they are having trouble with. From that we raise actions and make sure they have the support they need.

“We want to make sure that we are looking after all our employees regularly so each ambassador hosts two ‘Mental Health Meat Ups’ every month, one on site where we shout a barbecue for the whole crew, not just Titan employees. At these core messages are delivered and we’ve found that when people have someone they respect talking to them, they listen.

“I’ve been the person on the other end of the phone when someone is having problems at home and it is affecting how they perform on site. The last thing anyone wants to do when they are having difficulty is to talk to their manager so the program gives them a peer that is approachable.

“We are also investing in mental health and leadership training for our ambassadors so when someone does ask for help, they know what to do.”

Troy said he would love to see more companies get on board and do similar things as it is beneficial not just for people but for the business.

“If you have a company culture where people want to be there, they want to help, and they are all invested, then the company gets stronger as everyone gets stronger with you.

“At Titan we are going to keep growing on what we are doing and soon we will be rolling out our Junior Ambassador Program. We’ve got people in Queensland, NSW, Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia so these programs are all about letting the whole team know that no one is on their own and we are all in it together.

“And of course, we are going to be playing as much footy as we can!”