Young prodigy Curtis Sironenwill play Tests for Australia, says Bob Fulton
Paul Crawley
The Daily Telegraph
May 07, 201312:00AM
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Bob Fulton has backed youngster Curtis Sironen to play five-eighth for Australia in the future.
RUGBY league Immortal Bob Fulton has given Wests Tigers prodigy Curtis Sironen the ultimate endorsement - declaring the 19-year-old will one day play for Australia at five-eighth.
With the Wests Tigers sitting dead last on the NRL table after eight rounds, the long-time and highly respected NSW and Australian selection adviser said Tigers fans had every reason to get excited about this son of Balmain great Paul Sironen who has only played nine NRL games.
"I've got to say something about Sirro's kid," Fulton told Radio 2GB in the wake of the Tigers' soul-destroying 40-4 defeat to the Bulldogs last Friday night. "I watched him closely. I think that kid will play for Australia one day. At five-eighth."
Sironen only recently returned from his second serious shoulder injury, which has limited his progress over the last two years.
Despite that, he played only three games back in Holden Cup before the NRL team's injury crisis forced coach Mick Potter to rush him back into the top squad when Benji Marshall suffered turf toe.
Given Sironen's form in his three games since, Fulton's advice to the Tigers was to keep Sironen playing in the halves and resist the temptation to move him into the forwards just because he is big enough to play in the back-row.
Sironen is probably the biggest five-eighth to ever play NRL, standing at 195cm and weighing 103kg - and he is still growing, having done limited upper-body weights because of his shoulder injuries over the last two years.
Fulton said on 2GB: "I will say they have got to stick with him at five-eighth because when you look at the likes of Sutton and these bigger types of five-eighths, and you talk Wally Lewis, he was a big five-eighth and one of the greats of the game, an Immortal."
Fulton himself was one of the greatest five-eighths to ever play the game and he is not the type to come out with statements like this for the sake of creating a headline.
However, Sironen's rise could create a dilemma for the Tigers, who are also about to extend Benji Marshall's contract until the end of 2017.
Marshall is signed up until the end of next season but is negotiating an upgraded contract extension.
It's been reported when Marshall signed a four-year deal in 2010 it was understood that it would be re-negotiated after the new TV deal.
The Tigers also have two other outstanding young halves prospects coming through their ranks in the shape of 18-year-olds Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses.
Moses is the nephew of another Balmain great, Benny Elias, while Brooks is rated arguably the best young playmaker coming through at any NRL club.
Andrew Johns is already one of Brooks' biggest fans, with Johns convinced that the young Tiger will be a full- blown superstar in the not-too-distant future.
There was even a push to play him in first grade last week against the Bulldogs before Marshall was cleared to make his comeback.
The obvious question looking forward for management will be how the Tigers can keep all these young guns happy if Marshall is locked in until the end of 2017 on a deal reportedly worth $4 million?
Marshall is still one of the game's best playmakers when his pack is going forward and at 28 has a lot of football ahead of him.
He has also given tremendous service to the club since debuting in 2003 and is worth his weight in gold from a marketing perspective.
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Gee big call Bob, also agree as to how we can keep our potential 'stars' whilst extending Benji's contract.
Paul Crawley
The Daily Telegraph
May 07, 201312:00AM
\
\
Bob Fulton has backed youngster Curtis Sironen to play five-eighth for Australia in the future.
RUGBY league Immortal Bob Fulton has given Wests Tigers prodigy Curtis Sironen the ultimate endorsement - declaring the 19-year-old will one day play for Australia at five-eighth.
With the Wests Tigers sitting dead last on the NRL table after eight rounds, the long-time and highly respected NSW and Australian selection adviser said Tigers fans had every reason to get excited about this son of Balmain great Paul Sironen who has only played nine NRL games.
"I've got to say something about Sirro's kid," Fulton told Radio 2GB in the wake of the Tigers' soul-destroying 40-4 defeat to the Bulldogs last Friday night. "I watched him closely. I think that kid will play for Australia one day. At five-eighth."
Sironen only recently returned from his second serious shoulder injury, which has limited his progress over the last two years.
Despite that, he played only three games back in Holden Cup before the NRL team's injury crisis forced coach Mick Potter to rush him back into the top squad when Benji Marshall suffered turf toe.
Given Sironen's form in his three games since, Fulton's advice to the Tigers was to keep Sironen playing in the halves and resist the temptation to move him into the forwards just because he is big enough to play in the back-row.
Sironen is probably the biggest five-eighth to ever play NRL, standing at 195cm and weighing 103kg - and he is still growing, having done limited upper-body weights because of his shoulder injuries over the last two years.
Fulton said on 2GB: "I will say they have got to stick with him at five-eighth because when you look at the likes of Sutton and these bigger types of five-eighths, and you talk Wally Lewis, he was a big five-eighth and one of the greats of the game, an Immortal."
Fulton himself was one of the greatest five-eighths to ever play the game and he is not the type to come out with statements like this for the sake of creating a headline.
However, Sironen's rise could create a dilemma for the Tigers, who are also about to extend Benji Marshall's contract until the end of 2017.
Marshall is signed up until the end of next season but is negotiating an upgraded contract extension.
It's been reported when Marshall signed a four-year deal in 2010 it was understood that it would be re-negotiated after the new TV deal.
The Tigers also have two other outstanding young halves prospects coming through their ranks in the shape of 18-year-olds Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses.
Moses is the nephew of another Balmain great, Benny Elias, while Brooks is rated arguably the best young playmaker coming through at any NRL club.
Andrew Johns is already one of Brooks' biggest fans, with Johns convinced that the young Tiger will be a full- blown superstar in the not-too-distant future.
There was even a push to play him in first grade last week against the Bulldogs before Marshall was cleared to make his comeback.
The obvious question looking forward for management will be how the Tigers can keep all these young guns happy if Marshall is locked in until the end of 2017 on a deal reportedly worth $4 million?
Marshall is still one of the game's best playmakers when his pack is going forward and at 28 has a lot of football ahead of him.
He has also given tremendous service to the club since debuting in 2003 and is worth his weight in gold from a marketing perspective.
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Gee big call Bob, also agree as to how we can keep our potential 'stars' whilst extending Benji's contract.
