James Segeyaro opens up on his future at the Panthers
JUNE 11, 2016
JAMES Segeyaro picked up the phone nine days ago and went to make the call that would have ended his NRL career.
“I was calling an English Super League club to tell them I was coming,’’ the Penrith hooker said.
“That I would take their deal. But then I hung up. I had second thoughts and decided I needed the weekend to think on it.’’
Breaking his silence on his dumping to reserve grade, the infamous Chinese dinner that saw him cautioned by the NSW Police and his future, Segeyaro revealed he almost quit the NRL after being told he would not be offered a new contract by the Panthers for next year.
“I wasn’t sleeping,’’ Segeyaro said.
“I was told I wouldn’t be at the Panthers next year and I was thinking about it every night. The opportunity came up to go overseas and I almost took it. A very good club called me personally and offered me a very good deal. I was so close to going. Last Friday I was ready to make that call but then I sat down over the weekend and did a three page list of pros and cons.
“But the bottom line is I am not finished here. I have a massive burning desire to play at least another 100 games here and become Queensland’s next best hooker.’’
In a candid interview just two weeks after being dropped by coach Anthony Griffin, the 25-year-old admitted he would leave Penrith at the end of the year with the club in the market for a straight up-and-down hooker to play within a strict on-field structure.
“He (Griffin) sat me down a couple of weeks ago and told me the team was going another way next year,’’ Segeyaro said.
“He told me he wanted to bring young blokes through. He wants the team to play a certain way.
“He was getting the completion rate he was aiming for when I was out with a broken arm and then he wasn’t when I came back. He wants to use one hooker and play a very structured powered game. He wants his hooker to play straight off the ground.’’
Segeyaro is sensational — not structured. When at his best, the former Cowboy is an 85kg stick of line-destructing dynamite and he now needs to find a team that wants fireworks.
“I am willing to play how he (Griffin) wants for the rest of the year,’’ Segeyaro said.
“But I am more of a runner. I know I need to work on getting myself into the game but I am a dominate runner and if I see something then I am going to back myself. Sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn’t, but I need to trust my instincts. I feel that I can lift a game and that is what I try to do, even if I might push a pass sometimes.
Segeyaro denied he had fallen out with Griffin — or anyone else at the club.
“There were never any blues at the club,’’ Segeyaro said
“None at all. Any rumours about me and Hook not getting on are complete rubbish. I will tell you that straight to your face. I am 100 per cent committed to the Panthers for the rest of the year. I have invested a lot of time into this place and I want to finish well. I will do everything I can in my power to get back in that team and be part of that 17. I am fully committed to the boys and to the coach. I want success for this club. I am focused on playing good in reserve grade and forcing my way back in.’’
Segeyaro also opened up on his infamous dinner with Corey Norman, Junior Paulo and a posse police allege are notorious underworld figures.
“I had no idea who they were,’’ Segeyaro said.
“I met Corey, who is my good friend, for dinner and he bumped into some blokes he knew and they offered to shout us dinner. We only talked footy and for anyone to say we were match fixing or anything like that couldn’t be further off the mark.’’
