When he left the club at the end of the 2015 season he saw the beginnings of a spirited club on the rise and now Raiders five-eighth Aidan Sezer is fearful that the Titans are ready to end their run of three straight losses at Cbus Super Stadium on Saturday night.
Sezer brought up his 100th game in the NRL in Canberra's win over the Eels last weekend and now returns to the club where he played the first 71 of those, starting with his Round 7 debut against the Sea Eagles in 2012.
With just one win from their opening five games and again enduring a disrupted week on the training paddock due to injuries to key players, the Titans desperately need to find a way to win at home this week or risk seeing their finals aspirations slip away after only a third of the season.
Nominated as one of the Titans' five-eighths of the decade in their 10th anniversary celebrations this year, Sezer admits that he still has a soft spot for his former club but is happy to see their winning run wait until after the Raiders have left town.
"You can see in their performances now that they're never dead and we're preparing for a very tough game," said Sezer, who had four seasons with the Titans from 2012-2015.
"Even in my last year you could see that Neil Henry has brought a great culture to the club and very seldom do the Titans get blown away by teams.
"They might get off to slow starts as they have been these opening five rounds but they're always in the game.
"From my personal experience in my last year up there, that's probably one thing Neil Henry was strong at, really getting the boys to play an 80-minute performance and perform for each other and really give everything.
"I look back on my Gold Coast days with fond memories and I think all the boys who were around at that time would do as well. There are still a few boys there and I wish them all the success, except this week."
As the Titans pursued the signature of Daly Cherry-Evans prior to the start of the 2015 season Sezer was forced to evaluate his own future at the club, signing a three-year deal with Canberra before Cherry-Evans performed his now infamous backflip.
The actions of the Manly half infuriated the Titans faithful who also had to watch Sezer walk away but the 25-year-old insists he and wife Raziye were eager to put family first and live closer to family in Sydney.
"That didn't really play much of a part," Sezer said of the Cherry-Evans saga.
"I made up in my own mind along with my missus to not put football first for once but to put our family life ahead of everything so we decided to come closer to Sydney. That was the most important thing for us.
"It's a lot easier being in Canberra now, two-and-a-half-hour drive from Sydney and seeing my family and to have the opportunity to come to a great club like the Raiders was something that I couldn't pass up at the time.
"I look back on [my time on the Gold Coast] as a great time. I moved away from home for the first time, I think I really matured as a person.
"We had a great bunch of blokes up there and it was disappointing that we didn't have the success. We had the opportunity for a couple of years there to do it but for one reason or another we didn't."
A City Origin representative in 2016, the early years of Sezer's career were punctuated by injury, the 24 games he played in his first season in Canberra last year the most games he has played in a season to date.
And although he hasn't stopped to reflect on his 100-game milestone he believes it is just as much a recognition for the support he has around him than it is a personal achievement.
"Obviously it's taken me a while, it's been six years since I made my debut and to play 100 games is probably not an easy effort considering all the injuries I've endured," Sezer told NRL.com.
"It's a reward for your hard work and dedication to the game and the people that have put the faith in me to play 100 games.
"You always need that and it's a bit of recognition for my family and friends who got me there. My wife has always been by my side so it's probably more important for the little things like that.
"For me it's just about going out each week and playing my best and trying to get the win for my team."
