Dragons young gun Tyrell Sloan has admitted he didn't handle his 2022 axing as well as possible, opening up on some honest conversations that led to a career turnaround.
The 20-year-old featured in just eight games last year, with the Red V leaning towards Cody Ramsey as the first-choice fullback in the second-half of the campaign.
Sloan was left to ply his trade in reserve grade at St George Illawarra, before ultimately asking for a release from his contract over the off-season alongside close mate Jayden Sullivan.
But after some heart-to-heart chats with Anthony Griffin and other Dragons officials, the pair opted to stay and have now found themselves in starting positions with the side.
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Speaking on the Fox League Podcast, Sloan was open about his struggles coming into the top grade and admitted he was looking for excuses and reasons why he wasn't the first-choice fullback.
“Throughout 2022 it was up and down, but I don’t blame anyone else but myself," he said.
"I didn’t put myself in the best position to play No.1 or even to play first grade. I was probably kicking stones a bit, being only a teenager then, and I was sort of looking for who to blame, instead of looking at myself in the mirror.
"I was so happy to come into this off-season and try earn back the respect of my teammates and my coaches as well.
“We caught up, Hook was very open and honest, he said he didn’t communicate with me in the best way and that sort of led to us to not seeing eye-to-eye.
“Me being such a young kid, I probably thought I knew it all and I obviously didn’t, I’m still learning. It took both of us to be men together and we want to succeed, at the end of the day it had nothing to do with footy.
“I wanted to be stronger as a player and better as a person…we cleared everything that happened up in 2022 and we pushed all that aside.
“I did request a release through the year, and I’ve put that all behind me now, I am a St George Dragon.
“We’ve moved on now and I see Hook as a great coach and an even better bloke.”
Sloan endured a tough off-season, coming up with multiple errors in the Charity Shield loss to the Rabbitohs and putting immediate pressure on himself as the Dragons fullback.
But in the side's Round 2 clash with the Titans, the local junior proved why the club have invested so much time into his future, scoring a try and setting up two more in the 32-18 victory.
And in a surprise revelation, it was a stern message from his grandmother that lit the fuse for Sloan.
“She told me in a straight forward way, I don’t really talk footy with her, but she could tell something was going on in the off-season and throughout the year,” he said.
“With Nan, she just told me straight, stop being a sook and I am 20 years old now… 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.
“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 - and 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 No.1 jersey.”
