Gold Coast NRL administrator Dennis Watt expects candid, documentary-style access to become the "way of the world" in Australian sport after the Titans' risky foray this season.
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The four-part Building Titans series released on Kayo ahead of round one exposed the club's mediocre recent past with fly-on-the-wall training footage and personal sit-down interviews with current players.
Former players, staff and journalists were also interviewed to ensure no sugar-coating of the club's plight - the Titans went into administration in 2015 and were taken over by the NRL before being bought back in 2017.
Off the back of a ninth-place finish last year, the easy criticism of the documentary was that the success-starved club had put the cart before the horse.
Those critics would be fuelled by the club's 4-5 start, sitting seventh ahead of Sunday's Magic Round clash with the unbeaten Penrith thanks to some brilliant attack but equally horrid defence.
But Titans executive chairman Watt said fan feedback showed that criticism was misguided as they attempted to bridge the gap between fan and athlete.
The former Broncos chairman was also general manager of rugby league for News Corp during his 30-year career in newspapers and has watched "the rise of the sporting documentary" with interest.
"There's an appetite for looking behind the scenes of sporting clubs and the feedback we've got has been really strong," he told AAP.
"We never set out to make ourselves the favourites to win the thing.
"It was just a case of opening the door and giving some insight they (fans) might not otherwise have had.
"I understand there might be a reluctance to let the cameras in for fears you'll give away part of your intellectual property or an advantage.
"But all these places are made up of people and they've all got their stories."
"I can see that becoming the way of the world because the reality is that two thirds of the NRL's revenue comes from broadcast rights.
"There's a happy medium there (for media access); you can do it without giving away any trade secrets."
The Last Dance mini-series popularised the genre when live sport endured a COVID-19 shutdown last year, while Cricket Australia, AFL and Super Netball have all produced variations of the genre in the last 12 months.
Former professional basketballer-turned-filmmaker Matthew Adekponya thought he was no chance of convincing "old-school" types like Watt to agree to the project.
That's despite seeing countless examples of it working for high school, college, and professional sporting teams in the United States.
"We are so far behind the US in regards to content," Adekponya told AAP.
"The formula is already there - clubs and leagues overseas have shown what is possible - we really need to re-evaluate how things are done in Australia."
Cairns-raised Adekponya enjoyed playing stints across Europe, United States and Asia before honing his skills behind the lens, touring with the Boomers and working extensively with Australian NBA veteran Patty Mills on and off the court.
He said his background helped build trust with Titans players, who invited him into their homes and other places of significance to film and chat.
"For me that's the biggest hurdle here; there's no trust because both sides feel the other doesn't get it - which is usually correct, they don't," Adekponya said of the media-player relationship.
"I want to be proof that you can build trust and create quality content in the big Australian sports."
Watt said there was a "natural apprehension" of Adekponya and colleague Marco Noe.
"But they were very sharing, very inclusive," he said.
"They had an open licence to tell the story that they saw here.
"Matt's style, the fact he understands elite sport, if there were any concerns about letting the cameras in, he soon put them to rest."
The Building Titans series is available to stream on Kayo and 9Now.
Australian Associated Press
