Wales international, NRL hopeful Gethin Thomas looking to turn Corrimal’s season around
Gethin Thomas has represented Wales in rugby league and is hopeful of making the NRL one day. He now faces a new challenge in trying to revive the Corrimal Cougars season.
Illawarra Star
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It’s been a tough couple of years at the top for the Corrimal Cougars, winless since 2021 in the Illawarra Cup.
However, a fresh acquisition with a lot of potential could be a promising sign going forward for the historic club.
Gethin Thomas is the latest player to don the green and red of Corrimal, kitting up for the first time in their round five meeting with De La Salle after recovering from an ankle injury.
Thomas comes from Perth, moving to Wollongong with the intention of getting involved in the footy scene he had heard great things about from the opposite side of the country.
“The club’s really taken me in and the boys are great,” Thomas said.
“I love the fact that Corrimal has such a long and proud history, it’s so easy to get motivated and hyped up for a game when you put that jersey on.
“Seeing all the old boys‘ jerseys up in the sheds, it’s awesome and I’m just proud to be a part of it.”
Corrimal have rich club history dating back 111 years and featuring two premiership triumphs, the last of which was in 1974.
Despite a few tough years, the Cougars have continued to show up and have demonstrated great resilience in times where other clubs have dropped out from the league, as without Corrimal the Illawarra Cup might be in jeopardy all together due to insufficient teams.
Thomas joins the side having played SG Ball for the West Coast Pirates in Western Australia, also playing local club footy for the Fremantle Roosters.
Notably, he was also a Wales international representative for the U19s in 2022 for the European Championships.
With such experience gained at a young age, Thomas will be invaluable in the second row for Corrimal this season, who will be counting their blessings that Thomas waved off interest from English Super League clubs and electing to play in the Illawarra.
Corrimal have gone winless in their opening five games to start the 2023 season, but put together some of their best footy in their 30-16 round five loss to the undefeated De La Salle, with Thomas debuting in the starting side.
“For the first time in a while it felt like we were a team again,” Thomas said.
“It was tough in the first few weeks, losing Jarrod Mullen and a lot of our other key players being out.
“I think against De La though we really bounced back and started to believe again.
“I think week by week we’re improving and if we keep on building we can be a real force in this competition.”
Thomas’ efforts for the Wales national side in 2022 saw him selected as a part of their Team of the Year for 2022, a terrific achievement at such a young age.
He has aspirations of playing in the NRL and for Wales at the 2025 World Cup, but for now is solely focused on turning around the Corrimal Cougars’ season.
“Our intensity was so much better against De La, we looked as though we actually wanted to defend,” Thomas said.
“The main thing that seems to let us down is a lack of concentration at times.
“If you look at that De La game, they had two 10 minute periods where they put on about three tries because we switched off, but for the rest of the game I’d like to think that we were the more dominant team.
“Now it’s about making sure we can do this for 80 minutes and not just 60.
“I think once we start doing that, we’ll start winning some games.”
Corrimal face a mighty test against the defending premiers Collegians this Saturday, 3pm at Collegians Sports Stadium.
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