St George Illawarra forward Jack Gosiewski breaks his silence on Dragons demise

Another dejected St George Illawarra player has spoken out about the treatment that led to him leaving the troubled NRL club, writes Paul Crawley

Former Dragon Jack Gosiewski, partner Avalon and son Goldie.

Another dejected St George Illawarra Dragon has broken his silence about his shock exile this season that strangely followed what should have been the proudest moment of his young life.

Jack Gosiewski has revealed how he did not play another game of NRL after withdrawing from a match in round 11 due to complications relating to the birth of his first born baby, little Goldie.

Coming on the back of George Burgess’ explosive revelations about how he fell out with coach Anthony Griffin at the troubled NRL club, Gosiewski opened up about his very personal story of heartbreak that has now left his own career at the crossroads.

Gosiewski, 28, is still unsigned for next season although there is speculation he could end up at the North Queensland Cowboys.

Former Dragon Jack Gosiewski, partner Avalon and son Goldie.

But he maintains he is still at a loss to explain how he fell out of favour with Griffin so spectacularly immediately after he was forced to make the toughest call off his rugby league career.

A battling young forward who moved to the Dragons from Manly this season on the promise of playing more consistent NRL, Gosiewski had played four games in the opening 10 rounds and was set to start in round 11 against the Warriors only for it to coincide with the baby’s arrival.

Gosiewski and partner Avalon had wanted to make it a “home birth” but it didn’t go as smoothly as hoped when Avalon was rushed to hospital the day before the game.

“We were set to play on the Saturday and we ended up having our son on the Friday,’ Gosiewski recalled.

“My missus went through pretty much two full nights of labour at home and then on the Friday morning we ended up going to the hospital and she ended up having a C-section.

“So I had missed captain’s run and the game was the next day.

“Because of what I had been through emotionally and physically, like I pretty much hadn’t slept for two days and then obviously the stress of having the C-section and going to the hospital was a lot, I thought that I would try and do the right thing by the team.”

But that decision backfired badly when the following week he not only lost his spot in the starting team but was wiped from the top 17 altogether.

Sadly, that ended up being the case for the remainder of the season, with Gosiewski not playing another NRL game.

This was despite the fact his form was good enough to win him a spot in the NSW Cup team of the year.

“If it was a once in a lifetime game like a grand final or a prelim I probably would have played,” he continued.

“But it was mid-year and I was trying to put the team first by putting someone fresher in.

“I didn’t want to go out there and let myself down or let the team down so I put them first, and obviously my family.”

Despite numerous chats with Dragons coach Anthony Griffin (pictured) Gosiewski was unable to work out why he was not playing first grade.

Asked if he felt the decision was the catalyst for his exile, he added: “I don’t want to sit here and say yes but it … I don’t know. That’s the reality.

“It was just tough for me to go from a starting position to not even thereabouts for the rest of the year. Not even in the 22. I wasn’t even in the picture.”

He said he had “numerous chats” with Griffin but could never work out why he never got another go.

“After that when I was playing reserve grade and playing really good footy, I would ask, ‘How am I going? What am I doing good?’

“Pretty much the conversation would be, ‘You are doing really good, just keep doing what you are doing’.

“But that ended up to me having a four-month-old child and two pay cheques left and no contract. You know what I mean?

“I didn’t think it would end up panning out the way it did. It obviously has and here I am.”

George Burgess (L) is another former Dragon to reveal the breakdown of his relationship with Dragons coach Anthony Griffin. Picture: Julian Andrews

Asked to comment on speculation the Dragons are suffering from a toxic culture and player unrest after reports only three players turned up at the recent presentation night, Gosiewski said: “I don’t want to talk about that.

“I am just going to talk about what happened to me.

“I am not disappointed that I have got a beautiful healthy boy.

“But it would have been my biggest game for the year because if I had played decent in that game, which I am sure I would have, I would have stayed there.

“I was playing really good footy.

“I feel like at any other club I would have been playing NRL.

“And it is just that decision that sort of haunts me.

“My missus was begging me to play because she knew how big of a game it was for me.

“Like, I would never change the decision, even knowing what the outcome was.

“I would happily do that again.

“But I thought the next week I would be back on the bench and everything would be sweet.

“It is a cutthroat business.”

Originally published as St George Illawarra forward Jack Gosiewski breaks his silence on Dragons demise