Illawarra Cup veteran Jarrod Boyle chasing premiership glory with third team Thirroul Butchers
He’s won premierships with two different teams already, but can Jarrod Boyle add a third to the resume with Thirroul? Hear from the veteran as his team gears up for their semi final.
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Illawarra Cup veteran Jarrod Boyle is one of the competition’s most prized winners with three premierships to his name already.
Adding a fourth in 2023 with his Thirroul Butchers could very well put him in a league of his own though, as he looks to secure premiership glory with his third club.
One of the league’s deadliest halves to this day, Boyle has experienced premiership highs in 2015 with Helensburgh, 2017 with Collegians and 2019 with Collegians again, signing on with Thirroul in 2023 with the hopes of reaching the summit for a fourth time.
“You hear a lot of people say that if they didn’t play for who they play for, they’d want to play for Thirroul, so that was part of my thought process,” Boyle said on his decision to move to the club in 2023.
“Anyone who plays for them knows that they’re a great family club.
“I knew it was going to be easy to adjust and play for them, I’ve played against them for so long and you see the way in which they play, always tough and hard.”
Boyle’s Butchers have had their ups and downs in 2023 after a fair bit of squad turnover coming into the season.
They finished the regular season in fourth after a slow start, failing to put on a string of more than three wins in a row all season.
They have however proved they can still tussle with the big boys, showcased by their 18-16 victory last weekend in the minor semi final to eliminate Western Suburbs. This already betters their performance from the 2022 finals series in which they lost both their games after topping the league.
“We’ve stayed pretty confident all year, we knew it was going to click,” Boyle said.
“Just our effort areas were so much better. Earlier in the year if we made a mistake we might compound it with another, but on the weekend if we made a mistake we showed up, getting plenty of players around the ball like we’ve spoken about all year.
“We’ve got a few players who know what it’s like to play finals, it’s a different ball game now.”
Grand final success
Boyle’s first grand final triumph was one of his most memorable, sealing Helensburgh’s first premiership in 22 years after defeating Wests 16-10 in the grand final.
“There was a lot of pressure on us that year, we’d lost two grand finals in a row and three in the last four years,” Boyle said.
“Getting that win was massive for the club and for the town though.
“We had a fairly young side that year but a lot of us were best mates coming into it and still are today.
“I’ll never forget that one.”
Also on that Helensburgh 2015 grand final side was current Thirroul fullback and best mate Wayne Bremner, with whom Boyle says he would love to win another premiership with.
Two years later and Boyle was in new colours at Collegians, teaming up with the side that had beaten him in the 2013 grand final.
He was joined by current Collegians captain Blake Phillips who won the title with Boyle at Helensburgh two years earlier.
His Collegians boys would get the job done in another tight encounter defeating Dapto 22-14.
“They [Dapto] were a good team who had just won it the year before,” Boyle said.
“They had a lot of big names, lots of NRL experience in their ranks.
“Again we had a fairly young side but we were very energetic and in the end got the win in another tough game.
Boyle’s last triumph would come two years later in 2019 again in the red and black of Collegians, providing a magical assist for the game winning try to Jiye Ellis as his side prevailed 16-14 over Wests.
“I remember a couple of big efforts from Jarrod Thompson to get a couple of tries and seal the game with that strip at the end,” Boyle said.
“Another tough one, went right down to the wire as a lot of them have, but another great day.”
Now gearing up for an all-or-nothing clash against De La Salle this week to secure a grand final berth against Collegians, Thirroul will be needing to improve on their performances against the shire side so far this year, in which they’ve been defeated twice.
“The one that sticks is the third round where we had them by 22 at half time and went on to lose by a point,” Boyle said.
“They’re a good side, plenty of NSW Cup experience in there.
“No matter if you get a lead they’re never going to go away, they’re a good tough resilient team and that’s why they’re minor premiers.”
The Thirroul Butchers take on De La Salle at Collegians Sports Stadium at 3pm, Saturday August 26.
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