Tyson Frizell’s departure will hurt Dragons even more | Locker Room
At a time when the Dragons couldn’t find their identity even if it was clipped to their shirt pocket, they’ve allowed a player with the purest of values, work ethic, class and power to take his business elsewhere.
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For the past two years we’ve listened and learned how the Dragons haven’t coped without the onfield influence of Jack de Belin.
It’s about to get much worse.
Newcastle Knights fans will on Sunday catch a glimpse of the player who’s the missing piece of their own puzzle, while for St George Illawarra fans, it’s a case of not comprehending what they’ve lost until it’s gone.
Tyson Frizell has two matches left as a Dragon. After 10 seasons in the Red V, Frizell’s departure to Newcastle on a three-year deal will prove a greater loss for Saints than that of de Belin.
At a time when the Dragons couldn’t find their identity even if it were clipped to their shirt pocket, they’ve allowed a player with the purest of values, work ethic, class and power to take his business elsewhere. Frizell should’ve retired as a Saint.
Instead, the Knights will be richer for it — and for Frizell, it will be the best move of his career.
He’s about to move to a club that will value him for what the Dragons failed to maximise or promote — his leadership.
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Don’t be shocked if Frizell is named the captain of Newcastle in 2021.
Playing with honour, respect and actions, he’s the prototype of what every club CEO wants in the men that wear the emblem.
Few players would do what Frizell did on a Thursday last February.
The Dragons were drawn to play the Knights in a trial match at Maitland on the Saturday.
Knowing the Knights were trying to woo him and that it would be so easy to dovetail the meeting into a little all-expenses paid getaway before playing that weekend in the Hunter, Frizell did what other players wouldn’t have done.
Instead of piling his young family into the car, packing for a few nights at a flashy hotel at the Knights’ expense, Frizell took the two-and-a-half-hour drive up the F3 from his home in the Sutherland Shire with just his agent, Mike Banks.
Over lunch with Knights coach Adam O’Brien, Knights CEO Philip Gardener and head of recruitment Alex McKinnon, Frizell listened to the trio talk about not just what Newcastle could give him, but what he could give Newcastle.
They spoke about instilling his toughness into the Knights.
They spoke about his leadership qualities and how he could have a voice that would be heard.
After two hours of listening, Frizell jumped in his car and drove back home.
He trained in Wollongong the next day and then boarded the team bus bound for exactly where he’d just come from.
It showed everyone at the Knights the type of person he is: loaded with integrity, respectful and willing to make a tough decision without taking shortcuts.
What is also rare in this game is that the Knights only made Frizell one offer — the same figure from the beginning until the end of the decision-making process. It’s unheard of.
Frizell’s departure from the Dragons coincides with James Graham’s exit this year and before that, former captain Gareth Widdop’s farewell after six seasons.
It’s a leadership vacuum the Dragons need to desperately address.
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It would be wrong to suggest Frizell isn’t loved as a clubman by his teammates and coaches. He will be feted and it will be emotional.
But the good clubs don’t let people like Frizell go, which is probably why the Dragons were worried about what his departure said at the time of it becoming official.
As if to quell any fan discontent, some members of Dragons management were willing to whisper down the line to journalists at the time of Frizell announcing his decision to join the Knights in March that maintaining full fitness was becoming a struggle for the 28-year-old Test backrower.
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The irony is, those spinning the line didn’t know what Frizell was up to as they whispered. During the COVID-forced halt to the season from March until May, Frizell and his former Pommy teammate Graham could be found training together every second day on a suburban soccer oval in the Shire. Weaving in and out cones, sprinting, hitting bags, they pushed each other until they were almost blue.
Graham has been described as one of the toughest forwards to play the game and a leader revered by his peers for club and country.
It’s not a coincidence that on those uncertain days of not knowing when they would play again, the only player willing to push and shove alongside the hardened Englishman was Frizell.