Dragons at full strength for Eels clash despite heavy rep toll
Dragons Den News
CERTAINTY: Gareth Widdop will play against Parramatta on Thursday. Picture: Sylvia Liber
ST GEORGE Illawarra coach Paul McGregor will have all hands on deck for Thursday’s clash with Parramatta – bar star back-rower Tyson Frizell – after coming through the representative round unscathed.
The stand-alone rep weekend has loomed ominously on the horizon for its potential to derail the Dragons season, with eight top-liners playing over the weekend.
Jack de Belin, Paul Vaughan, Ben Hunt and Frizell all played in Origin II, Tim Lafai played for Samoa, while James Graham, Gareth Widdop and Leeson Ah Mau were part of the Denver Test.
The club went as far as sending head of performance Nathan Pickworth along for the ride with its Denver Test contingent, with Widdop and Graham certain to play against the Eels.
Ah Mau is also injury-free, though he only arrived back in Wollongong just on Wednesday after storms caused the cancellation of the Kiwis scheduled flight out of the U.S.
“The Denver guys, Gareth and James, have pulled up fine so they’ll definitely be playing,” McGregor said.
“Leeson’s only just walked through the gate so we’ll get a better feel on him once we get through training. With their commitment to one another and the team, I can’t talk any of them out of playing.
“We’ll just see how they come through training but they’re very confident about the position they’re in and that they want to play so at this stage we’re looking OK.
“Obviously we don’t just look at what they want to do, it’s about what the team needs. We did send our performance manager over to Denver so, collectively, it’s not just my decision.
“That’s how I like to make decisions. I’ve got trust in my staff and my players and I like to empower them when a decision like this needs to be made.
“We know the Origin guys have got 13 days between this game and they’re next game, because they don’t play for us against Melbourne [next week]. That’s a tidy recovery.”
Frizell shouldered a huge load at the corresponding stage of last season, carrying multiple rib cartilage tears as the Dragons fought to stay in the finals race.
He also played through Australia’s World Cup triumph and McGregor said his star back-rower has earned a spell.
“Tyson’s rested, not injured,” McGregor said.
“He’s carrying niggles and we’ve just got to manage a few alignments in him and this is one of the opportunities to do that.
“Last year was a horrendous year for him considering the injuries he carried through the back end of the year. We lost Russell Packer for the last six games and Tyson had to play busted with needles each week.
“He did that for us, and he would’ve done that this week, but we just thought, in consultation with staff and the player, it was best he not play.
“It gives him that extended break between now and the third Origin, which will be helpful for him at the back end of the year.”
Halfback Ben Hunt will also back up after wearing the brunt of criticism for Queensland’s loss in Origin II that saw them lose just their second series in 13 years.
There’s been no shortage of media and fan pile-on but McGregor hit back on Wednesday, saying the bulk of criticism has been unwarranted.
“I think [criticism] has been a bit heavy-handed,” McGregor said.
“I think he’s copped a lot of criticism around one kick but there were a lot of other opportunities for other players in the game.
“He’s only new to the [Origin] arena in that position. It’s a difficult position but there’s four people in a spine who can take some ownership and control around that.
“I think anyone who’s been involved in Origin as a player, when you lose, it hurts. Ben’s just got to move forward and the best way to do that’s to play footy.
“He’ll be right on [Thursday] night, don’t worry about that.”
https://www.illawarramercury.com.au...or-eels-clash-despite-heavy-rep-toll/?cs=3713
