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‘Fighting the odds’: Whangarei bond for Paramatta Eels teammates Wiremu Greig and Dylan Brown
Growing up together in NZ, they didn’t know whether they were going to make it in the NRL. But Dylan Brown and Wiremu Greig are now living the dream at the Eels, writes PAMELA WHALEY.Schoolboys don’t often make it into the NRL from Whangarei, but Wiremu Greig and Dylan Brown are living the dream.
The Parramatta Eels teammates were once friends at school in the small town in New Zealand’s north, playing rugby league together and wondering if they’d ever crack the big time.
“We went from maybe year seven all the way to maybe year 10 together and then he came over here to Sydney and I went to North Queensland,” Greig tells CODE Sports.
“We grew up together.
“We played in the same team, he was one year younger than me. But we were mates.”
While Brown made his debut in 2019 when he was just 18 and quickly made headlines for his talent and potential, Greig took a little longer to crack first grade.
Greig battled through the lower grades with the Cowboys but stayed on the developmental roster before Eels coach Brad Arthur offered him a spot in the top 30 in 2021.
Arthur saw him play for the Maori All Stars that year and liked what he saw, but Greig, now 23, knew it would reunite him with his childhood mate too.
It’s all the more special considering not even one of them was expected to make it to the NRL level, let alone three (Paul Turner, who is signed to the Dragons, was also in their team).
“We never thought we’d make it,” Greig says.
“I remember being in the under 16s and they told us the odds of us making it, there was 30 of us in the room and they said something like maybe not even one of us would make it all the way to the NRL.
“James Fisher-Harris was from there too, but he was a bit older than us.
“It’s pretty cool that three of us in that team were able to do it from such a small town. It’s a tiny place, it’s not like Sydney. So we were fighting the odds really.
“I just kept chipping away at it and eventually got here.”
Greig debuted for the Eels in 2021 but this year his football has gone to another level.
He’s on the verge of signing a contract extension with the club after forcing his way into the NRL side this season, after just three games in the two previous years.
He’s started six games in the front row, including Friday night’s win over South Sydney at Allianz Stadium.
It was his biggest performance in the top grade to date, playing 50 minutes for game-high 19 runs, 160 metres and two tacklebreaks.
Greig and his partner Kelsey welcomed their first child, Ocea, to the world eight months ago and it was all the reason he needed to attack this season harder than he had before.
“I had to do it for my family,” he says.
“I have a baby now and a partner so I had to make something of myself.
“I’ve been trying to crack it and use this opportunity and keep building trust and keep playing more. I feel like I’m just trying to prove myself.”
