Dragons rookie Tyrell Sloan has his sights set on not one, but two No.1 jerseys next season.
The 19-year-old made his NRL debut in Round 15 last season and played another four games. He finished the year as the Dragons’ first choice fullback and is hoping he’ll start next year in the same position.
Sloan is in the mix with Cody Ramsey to wear St George Illawarra’s No.1 jersey next season.
Sloan admitted he didn’t quite understand the defensive role a fullback plays when he first stepped up to the NRL, but that has changed.
“When I first came into first grade I didn’t have much of a clue about my defensive splits, but the coach said, ‘You need to be the best defensive person in the team, and that doesn’t mean tackling but organising guys into position,” he said.
Something a lot of rookies have been doing during the off-season is putting on size. Roosters duo Sam Walker and Joseph Suaalii have both put on around 5kg and Sloan is also in that boat.
The young gun revealed he’s actually put on 13kg since this time last year.
“My goal was to come back heavier. I had a good off-season,” he said.
“I came in at 75kg last pre-season and now I’m 88kg. I want to get to 90kg.
“I feel stronger. We get fed at training but the club is always making sure I’m eating more. We have the ‘Sloaney Smoothies’ and I’m always making the protein shakes for the boys.”
Sloan is also working towards the Indigenous All Stars’ No.1 jersey, but he has some hot competition.
Rabbitohs superstar Latrell Mitchell has worn the jersey for the last two years, but his six-week suspension for a high shot Joey Manu means he’ll have to watch on from the sidelines.
The likes of Alex Johnston, Daine Laurie, Will Kennedy, Jayden Campbell and Reece Walsh will be in the conversation with Dragons duo Sloan and Ramsey.
“I’m a Koori boy, a proud Wiradjuri man, and it would be a dream come true,” Sloan said.
“I grew up watching Matty Bowen and Johnathan Thurston, I idolised those guys, and I still do.
“To play in that game, which will be in Sydney for the first time, it would be great.
“We have Indigenous Round and we have the All Stars game, but we could do even more to celebrate the Indigenous culture, be it more camps or more eduction.
“My nan raised me since I was two months old, and she taught me a lot about my Indigenous heritage. That is a goal, for sure.”
