Cameron Cullen says he tried to keep the emotion of losing his brother out of his NRL debut

CAMERON Cullen made his NRL debut in front of the same group of friends who were with his brother Justin when he tragically lost his life in an accident.

gcb cameron cullen (grey cap)(R) with his brother Justin Cullen,24

THERE IS a reason Cameron Cullen continually smiled at Cronulla’s sunlit hill during his NRL debut for the Titans on Sunday.

On that hill, among a sea of Sharks supporters, stood a group of mates — friends for life who were on the boat when Cameron’s brother Justin dived into the ocean and tragically never resurfaced.

Cullen wished his brother was on that hill too but he was on his chest and wrist where tattoo tributes are inked.

“I can’t even really go into how hard the past nine months have been for me,” Cullen said after an impressive NRL debut.

Justin died during a surfing trip to the Maldives last July. It shattered the tight-knit Cullen family, who all attended Cameron’s elite debut in the Shire.

Cameron’s first game for the Titans was bittersweet.

The awful loss of his brother drove the 22-year-old to crack the NRL after stints with the Broncos and Cowboys.

Cameron Cullen throws a dummy pass against the Sharks.

When Titans halfback Kane Elgey suffered a season-ending knee injury, coach Neil Henry threw Cullen a six-week “train and trial” deal to back up Tyrone Roberts and Ashley Taylor.

When Roberts then suffered an injury and Greg Bird did not enjoy playing five-eighth, the 165cm Cullen achieved the dream his brother helped drive him towards.

“I tried to keep the emotion out of it as much as I could,” Cullen said.

“It has been a really hard nine months and it has driven me harder to take this opportunity.

“I had my whole family fly down.

“My oldest brother, mum and dad and partner, her family.

“Then I also had a bus load of all my mates who were on that boat when my brother passed away and every single one of them were on the hill over there. It was awesome ...

“I am disappointed we didn’t get the win but it was great to be out there.”

Cullen proved against Cronulla he was a first-grade player.

He scored a smart solo try when he attacked the Sharks’ tiring front-rowers and also had a solid kicking game combining with fellow rookie Taylor.

Cameron Cullen's brother Justin died in a surfing accident in 2015.

However, Roberts could be fit for Saturday night’s clash with St George Illawarra on the Gold Coast and he would return to five-eighth. It could see Cullen used off the interchange with Nathan Friend and Dan Mortimer both suffering concussion.

Saturday night is the Dragons’ third and final game of their Sunshine State swing, in which they have failed to score any points in 160 minutes.