Big League Weekly Edition – July 25, 2019

KICKING

OFF

MARIA

TSIALIS

FEATURES

10 BENJIMARSHALL

16 -17 SAIFITI&KLEMMER

18 DESHASLER

20-21 BACK-TO-BACKPREMIERS

22 JAEMANSALMON

24 ESPORTS

UPFRONT 3-

CLUBNEWS 26-

LITTLELEAGUE 30-

NRLTEAMS 36-

OTHERCOMPS 52-

RESULTS 56-

DRAW 62

COVERPHOTOS:NRLPHOTOS:GREGG PORTEOUS

(TRBOJEVIC), ROBB COX (FARAH)

Round 19BIG LEAGUE 2019 3

L

ASTyearwasa difficultonefor

SeaEaglesfans,andthoughthey

cameinto 2019 withDesHasleratthe

helm,I mustadmitI didn’tputtheminmy

topeightcalculations.Evenwithseveral

bigstars,I didn’tthinktheirsquadstrength

couldholdoverthecourseofa season

andtheywouldeventuallyfadeaway.

EvenwithoutTomTrbojevicandDaly

Cherry-Evansforextendedperiodsof

time,theyhavereallyprovedmewrong.

Theliftfromrookiesandplayerswho

hada difficult 2018 campaignhasbeen

incredible.Thepreviouslyunwanted

ReubenGarrickhasbeena revelation,

AddinFonua-Blakeisoneofthebestprops

intheleagueandguyslikeCurtisSironen,

ManaseFainuandCoreyWaddellareinthe

formoftheirrelativelyshortcareers.

Andit alltracesbacktoHasler.

Hisinfluenceovertheplayinggrouphas

beenenormousandhe’sa bigfavourite

forCoachoftheYear.Readmoreabout

theclub’sturnaroundonpage18.

I

T’SBeanieforBrainCancerRound

andthere’snobetterwaytorugup

ata gameandsupporta greatcause.

Youcanbuythebeaniesandsupport

theMarkHughesFoundationfrom

allhomegroundsduringRound 19 or

participatingLowesandIGAstores.To

readmoreaboutwhat’shappening this

week,fliptopage17.

W

E havea veryinterestingstory

ontheWarriorsandEsportson

page 24 forallthefootyfanswhoenjoy

gaming– andthoselikemewhohaveno

ideabutarewillingtolearn.It certainlyis

a newageanda differentwaytoappealto

an up-and-coming generation of fans.

S

TGEORGEIllawarra’srepresentative

forwardTysonFrizellhasleapt

tothesupportofembattled

coachPaulMcGregorfollowingthe

club’sninthlossin 11 games.

AlthoughMcGregor’scontract

wasextendedbya furthertwo

seasonsearlierthisyear,there

haverecentlybeensuggestions

hisfutureattheclubisuncertain.

ButFrizellsaysMcGregor’sposition

ascoachoftheDragonsisn’tinjeopardy

atallandhasputtheonusonhisteam-mates

tobebetter.

“Thestaffdosomuchtoprepareuseach

week,theydoeverythingtheycan.‘Mary’

[McGregor]andthestaffaren’ttheones

goingoutthereandperforminglikethat.

It’sus,theplayers.

“I’dbemoreworriedaboutusandhow

we’regoingtokeepourspotsintheside.

Allofthemareontheline.”

YoungforwardJoshKerrechoedFrizell’s

commentsanddeclaredthewholeplaying

groupsupportsthemanincharge.

“Alotofpeoplepointthefingeratcoachbut

attheendoftheday,it’sontheplayersand

weneedtostandup.It’snotthecoach’sfault,

weneedtobebetter,”KerrtoldBigLeague.

“Rugbyleaguecanchangequickly.Atthe

momentwe’vestackedonlossafterloss,

but it happens to every team. We can stick

ourheadsinthesandbutwe’vestill

gota genuinechancetomakethe

finals.That’sonusasplayers,notthe

coaches.It’stimetoflicktheswitch.”

AlthoughtheDragons’form-lineis

poor,Frizellalsobelievestheirseason

is farfromoverandexpectsthemto

turnit around.Theysit14thonthe

ladderwithsixwinsand 11 losses,but

arejusttwowinsoutsidethetopeight.

“Weknowthepotentialthissquad

has,butatthemomentwe’replaying

asindividualsandnotasa team.Oncewecan

fixthatwecanbegood,”hesaid.

Frizellalsotookthechancetoshutdown

rumoursconcerninghisfutureaftermedia

reportssaidhe’sunhappyattheDragonsand

hadaskedfora release.

He’scontracteduntiltheendof 2020 and

willbeabletofieldoffersfromNovember1,

butdeniedanyinterestinleavingtheclub.

“Ihaven’theardanythingfromanyone,

beenspokentooraskedfora release.I don’t

knowif peoplearetryingtoshopmearound,

butit’snotonmybehalf,”Frizelldeclared.

“MymanagerandI don’tknowwhere

theserumoursarecomingfrom,butthey’re

justrumoursatthemoment.

“I’vegota reallygoodrelationshipwith

Mary.If I wasunhappyaboutanythingwith

theclub,he’dbethefirst person I’d speak to

and he knows that.”

Mary’s men back

their mentor

PHOTO:

Ian Hitchcock

ByMICHAEL

BLOK

@michaelblok