St George Illawarra Dragon Tyrell Sloan reveals he has withdrawn request to leave NRL club
Tyrell Sloan has broken his contract silence and declared where he wants to play in 2023 – one of three big calls on an eventful day at the Dragons. READ THE LATEST.
Aymon Bertah
St George Illawarra rising star Tyrell Sloan has backflipped on his decision to quit the club and will instead stay and fight for a place in the Dragons’ NRL side.
It comes as the Dragons announced they had released George Burgess from the final year of his contract, and signed forward Zane Musgrove from the Wests Tigers.
The Dragons have faced a tumultuous off-season highlighted by player unrest and
questions over their culture.
Fullback Sloan and halfback Jayden Sullivan, who are contracted to the Dragons until the end of 2024 and 2025, respectively, have both had formal requests for releases from their deals denied.
Sullivan, 21, made a second attempt to force his departure from the club last Friday, with Canterbury a potential suitor.
However Sloan, 20, has since had a change of heart.
He said it wasn’t a matter of his playing ability, an area he feels “will do the talking”. It was about feeling “wanted” and knowing people at the Dragons believed in him.
“Footy was never the problem with me, it was just to have a good relationship with people [at the club],” Sloan said.
“I’m not worried about if I get the fullback position or not, I’m confident in my ability, I just need to know that the club I’m representing, believe in me.”
RELEASE REJECTED
After making his
NRL debut in 2021, Sloan only played eight games this season.
He started at fullback for the opening three rounds of the season before he lost his place to Cody Ramsey. He featured in the No.1 jumper once more, in round 10, before remaining in reserve grade until Round 20, featuring as an interchange player before two games on the wing.
Sloan handed in his release request to club chairman Craig Young – the grandfather of one of his best mates – thinking “he’d let me go”.
“But that wasn’t the case,” Sloan said.
“It was a conversation where this is my club, this is where I grew up, and for a period during the [past] year I asked myself ‘would anyone really care if I asked for a release or if I wanted to go’.
“But that’s where it all came back to, and a lot of the people at the club stepped up and said they believed in me as a fullback.
“I just want to make that my jersey, and secure my position.”
Having grown up with strong Indigenous family values, it was the actions of Dragons CEO Ryan Webb that sealed Sloan’s U-turn.
“He was very upfront about everything in [me] making a decision … it’s really important for myself to be comfortable,” Sloan said.
“To have someone that’s the CEO, not so much like whether it’s the coach or another player, it’s the CEO that I was talking to.
“When you feel wanted, those are the sort of guys you want to be talking to, because at the end of the day, they’re the ones making the decisions.”
KOORI CONNECTION
Sloan had deliberated over the past couple of months, but said his decision was made clear when Webb and Dragons mentor Matt Elliott came to this month’s Koori Knockout in Nowra, being the only NRL representatives in attendance.
Latrell Mitchell recently voiced his disappointment at the lack of NRL representation at the event, declaring “every club should be there”.
Something Sloan agreed with wholeheartedly.
“It’s a massive talent pool for young Indigenous kids, and if clubs are fair dinkum and want Aboriginal talent, that’s where it is,” Sloan said.
“So that was a big tick for the club, because it looked like they wanted to take an interest in us young kids and that’s why I spoke about Webby.
“He was the only one that I saw from an NRL club, it was massive … it wasn’t fake, he was there the whole day and he wanted to learn about our culture and how we all connect.
“It shows he respects our culture, it’s built on respect and I don’t think he once felt out of place.”
This was a driving reason for Sloan, who pointed towards Webb’s involvement with Kane Ellis from the local Aboriginal Medical Service and how he hasn’t “shied away” from having “awkward conversations”.
“At the moment there’s not a lot of people around the club that have any knowledge about [our culture], it’s probably more player driven,” Sloan said.
“So having Webby, who supports our culture, who can be proud of it as well and working with uncle Kane, can only give us confidence as young kids to be able to share our values with the rest of the club.”
THE FUTURE
Now the dust has settled, Sloan is focused on helping the club return to the finals for the first time since 2018.
“It was playing on my mind a lot, if I had to relocate and go somewhere else,” Sloan said.
“But at the end of the day, my grandma lives in Wollongong and I would’ve struggled to leave. It’s definitely a big weight off my shoulders.
“I want to win comps now, I want to settle down and start playing good footy and I guess to repay Webby and everyone that asked me to stay.”
FORWARD MOVES
The Dragons on Monday announced they had secured Tigers forward Musgrove for the 2023 season, becoming the second Tigers player to join the club after Jacob Liddle signed with the Red-V last month.
He will take the spot of Burgess, who has been released from his 2023 deal following a tumultuous time at the club, where he only managed four games.
“Zane is an established NRL player with a strong physical presence and will be a great addition to our forward pack,” Dragons general manager of football, Ben Haran, said.
“We’ve been looking to build our forward pack and we’re excited to see Zane join the Dragons.”
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