Tyrell Sloan has re-pledged himself to his boyhood club the St George Illawarra Dragons after a scintillating opening-round win, admitting he made a mistake in demanding a release from the Red V last year.
At the end of last year, it looked like St George Illawarra’s young gun Sloan was going to walk out the door to take up a multi-year offer from the Redcliffe Dolphins.
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The release request, which Sloan confirmed did happen, came after a tough 2022 for the then-19-year-old. After three rocky starts in the number one jumper, coach Anthony Griffin dropped the youngster. He disappeared into reserves until round 10 and then again in round 20. All this came after Hook declared he was the club’s long-term fullback.
In response, Sloan demanded he be allowed to leave to join the Dolphins.
Hook and the Dragons shot down the formal request, leaving Sloan stinging until he was whacked with a wake-up call at home: His grandma, who raised him, told him to just “stop being a sook.”
“Nan, she just told me straight, ‘You’re being a sook’,” the Dragon revealed after staring in the Red V’s comeback victory over the Titans on Sunday. “She’d seen me since I was a kid. She said ‘Stop being a sook, man up and have that chat with the coach.’ We got it done and now I praise Hook and what he has done for myself.
“We caught up, Hook was open and honest, he said he didn’t communicate with me in the best way and that led to us not seeing eye-to-eye. Me being a young kid, I thought I knew it all.”
Sloan added that he originally asked for the release because he was worried he was losing his chance at first grade and wanted to keep improving as a player as quickly as possible.
Once he and Hook had sorted everything out—via both apologising, to start—though, the 20-year-old said his Dragons coach helped him see exactly why he’d dropped him and where the development plan was going. “We moved on together, I can see Hook as a great coach [for what he talked me through]. And he’s an even better bloke.”
Something is clearly paying off too. Sloan may have been given his crack at fullback after Cody Ramsey was ruled out for the year with illness, but he’s firmly grabbing his chance.
In round one, the Red V fullback was everywhere, helping inspire his team to bounce back from a 2-12 deficit to a huge victory in front of the St George Illawarra faithful at Kogarah. Alongside other squad stars like Ben Hunt and Jack Bird, Sloan scorched in attack—and ended up earning Dally M points for his effort too.
In all, the youngster is just thankful everything turned around and he was put back on the right path.
“It was a pretty tough moment asking for a release from a club that’s had my back since I was 13, 14 years old. If I’m honest now I wouldn’t be able to leave, having my Nan down here and my brother and all my friends and family.
“In hindsight, I wouldn’t be able to move, everything happens for a reason, obviously, I got a crack at the one jersey.
“I’ve put that all behind me now [though]. I am a St George Illawarra Dragon.”
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