Crackerjack: Bosden can't live on Charity alone
Crackerjack: Bosden can't live on Charity alone
BY TIM BARROW
15 Feb, 2011 04:00 AM
The emergence of Charity Shield sensation Jack Bosden as a St George Illawarra star has been two years in the making, former Dragons great Paul McGregor declared yesterday.
However, McGregor challenged Bosden to back it up, warning he won’t be able to force his way into the NRL just on the superb performance in Sunday night’s 32-10 win over South Sydney.
Two years ago, the second-rower was considering walking away from rugby league when he signed with McGregor’s Illawarra Carlton League powerhouse club Wests.
Bosden had left Cronulla, the club he’d played with since the age of 15, disillusioned and unhappy on the field.
Slowly but surely Bosden turned his life - and career - around, before McGregor told his former NRL club the now 22-year-old was ready to return to the big time.
Bosden spent last year on the comeback trail from a shoulder reconstruction at the Dragons’ former NSW Cup feeder club Shellharbour, but is fit and firing after a full preseason this summer.
‘‘He was over rugby league, he just wasn’t enjoying training or playing,’’ McGregor said of Bosden when he arrived at Wests.
‘‘He wasn’t really sure which way he wanted to go with league, but I think his time with us [Wests] helped him get that enjoyment back.
‘‘Jack played really well [against Souths], but one game doesn’t make a season and there’s a fair bit of footy to go before he makes a name for himself.’’
As the 2009 Carlton League season progressed, McGregor contacted Dragons assistant coach Steve Price to tell him Bosden’s form was worthy of a recall to the NRL ranks.
It meant McGregor was without a star player for the finals series that year, because the Dragons signed him on the proviso he had a shoulder reconstruction after failing the club medical.
After scoring a try, setting up another and being impressive in defence, Bosden is now a potential bolter for St George Illawarra’s 18-man squad - expected to be named tomorrow - to play Wigan in the World Club Challenge on February 27.
NRL All Stars winger Brett Morris and Dragons second-rower Ben Creagh are expected to be available for Friday night’s Mercury Challenge against the Bulldogs.
Morris copped the knees of Indigenous All Stars prop Tom Learoyd-Lahrs in his ribs after scoring the opening try at Skilled Park on Saturday, while Creagh was accidentally poked in the eye against Souths.
Captain Ben Hornby and second-rower Beau Scott, who both missed Sunday’s game with slight calf strains are also likely to line up against Canterbury, while Dean Young (knee) is also a chance to play.
The top players are expected to play about 20 minutes of the trial as a hit-out before boarding the plane for England the next day.
Source:http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=...osden-cant-live-on-charity-alone/2075634.aspx
