Penrith rookie Caleb Aekins to grab fullback chance in Eels trial clash
Basking in the joy of having his first child this week, Penrith Panthers fullback aspirant Caleb Aekins had to decide whether to leave his baby’s side to go and secure his future.
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On Wednesday morning Penrith’s Caleb Aekins made the most gut wrenching decision of his life — to leave his four-day old son, Nixon.
At 7.30am on Sunday Aekins became a father for the first time but the feelings of joy were quickly replaced with dread when he realised he’d have to say goodbye in a matter of days to play a trial match against Parramatta in Bega.
But Saturday’s trial isn’t just any other game for Aekins — it has the potential to change his life.
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It’s a chance for the 22-year-old to finally cement at spot in Ivan Cleary’s starting side after playing only four games in two seasons.
“I’m trying not to let the pressure get to me, it’s a big week for me … the baby has come and now I’ve come down to Bega for Saturday’s game so I can try to cement my spot,” Aekins told The Daily Telegraph.
“But now I have someone to do it for, I want to do it for my baby. It was hard leaving him but I want to make sure that leaving him wasn’t in vain.”
Aekins is the frontrunner to replace Dylan Edwards after the first-choice fullback suffered a serious ankle injury during training last week.
“You never want to see your mate get injured but it happened. The next day after Dylan was injured, Ivan gave me a call and told me I’m in the running for the fullback spot, you need to train well, trial well,” he said.
“This is my opportunity and I want to take it. No one wants to stay in the Canterbury Cup, you want to be looking for the end goal, which is the NRL.”
The Otaika Eagles product was set to stake his claim for the No.1 jumper in last weekend’s trial match against the Wests Tigers but instead Aekins was forced to make a frantic phone call to Cleary pulling out of the match.
“I was named to play against the Tigers but her water broke the day of the game, so labour was probably going to happen that day,” he said.
“I had to tell Ivan I wasn’t going to be playing. He was more than happy for me not to be there, he didn’t want me to miss that moment. All the boys told me it would be a special moment but until you’re there and it happens, it’s indescribable the joy, it’s overwhelming.”
Aekins burst on to the scene in 2018 with a record-breaking performance at fullback against Cronulla in round 18. He ran for a staggering 303 metres, a record for an NRL debutant. But contract rules halted his progression into the top grade.
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“At the time I was frustrated because I thought I went well but things didn’t go to plan. It’s just how it was … I was a development player at the time so they couldn’t actually keep playing me unless I was contracted as a top 30 player,” he said.
He was called back into the NRL side in 2019 when Edwards was dropped to reserve grade following a string of poor performances. But again, his time was short-lived playing only three games. Cleary told Aekins, who is known around training for being one of the most reserved personalities, he needed to find his voice on the field.
“I thought I was playing OK but Ivan came to talk to me and said there are a few things he needs me to fix up and he brought Dylan back in and props to him he played well the rest of the season,” he said.
“He wanted me to trust my instincts a bit more and play my natural game. I was used to the Canterbury Cup where I had free reign but I was a bit scared to do that in the NRL with all these veteran players around me, it was a big step.”
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But becoming a dad on Sunday wasn’t the only milestone for Aekins. Remarkably, the young back only suffered the first serious injury of his career in August last year. Aekins went down during a Canterbury Cup game against the Bulldogs with what he thought was a minor sprain, but the diagnosis was much worse.
“That was new for me, I’d never been injured before. It was my first ever surgery too. At the time I thought I just sprained my foot. It happened around the 20 minute mark and I tried to keep playing on with it but by halftime it was pretty sore. The next day I got the scans and I found I was shocked to find out it was a lisfranc injury and I was out for three months,” he revealed.
SUPERCOACH ANALYSIS
With Dylan Edwards set to miss significant time with a syndesmosis injury, Caleb Aekins is now a potential cheapie option for SuperCoaches, priced at just $258,100. The rookie fullback has a SuperCoach friendly game, averaging 44.3 points in his four games of first grade. Unfortunately he is only available at fullback, and this position is stacked for talent, with many SuperCoaches opting to run two guns or mid-rangers here. But if you are looking to go with a gun and a cheapie at fullback, then Aekins is probably the best option.
—Wilson Smith