NRL 2024: Sunshine Coast product Daniel Atkinson ready to sink Queensland’s only title hope in elimination final v Cowboys
Cronulla five-eighth Daniel Atkinson learned his craft as a kid in Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast watching his Maroons heroes in State of Origin. Now his job is to kill off Queensland’s last title hope by knocking off the Cowboys.
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Cronulla playmaker Daniel Atkinson has only ever known one mindset when it comes to the high pressure moments on the footy field.
In those moments, Atkinson wants the ball in his hands.
Like when he stepped up to sink the Newcastle Knights with a golden-point field goal in Round 24 in the 84th minute.
And if the game-defining moment falls on his shoulders against the Cowboys on Friday night, the Sunshine Coast product will put his hand up as the man to sink Queensland’s only club in this year’s title race.
It’s the “Queenslander” in him.
It’s the desire to compete to the death, and win, that Atkinson learned as a kid in Maroochydore watching his Maroons heroes in State of Origin.
“One hundred per cent, I’ll be demanding the ball if the game is on the line on Friday. I’ll attack it with all I’ve got,” Atkinson said.
“My dad has always hammered home that when the game gets tough you need to be one with the ball in your hands.
“You never want to shy away from those moments.
“I’m a Queenslander. I remember watching Origin on the couch as a kid, watching guys like Darren Lockyer, Johnathan Thurston, Billy Slater and they just thrive in those moments.
“That’s what I want to do. I always want to be a good teammate, I want to be a reliable player and when the game gets tough, I want to come out on top, come out stronger.”
Atkinson has been a revelation for the Sharks, stepping in to replace Nicho Hynes and Braydon Trindall at different times during the season as injury and suspension hit coach Craig Fitzgibbon’s first-choice halves partnership.
But it wasn’t that long ago that Atkinson, 23, was on the NRL scrap heap.
The rookie five-eighth was scouted by Melbourne in 2020 but his development came to a crashing halt when the game’s junior representative competitions were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He made his NRL debut, his first and last game for the Storm, in 2021 before the club delivered devastating news.
“The heartache of realising I had to leave Melbourne because there was no opportunity and having to go back to work as a chippy full-time was tough,” Atkinson said.
“I spent a lot of time wondering if I would ever get the chance to play NRL ever again.
“It does hit you, you are always thinking ‘am I going to get there?’.
“At the junior level you always heard how only one per cent is only ever going to make it, and I wondered if I would ever be that one per cent.
“Now I’m here and I realise how lucky I am. I’m brushing shoulders with the best of the best. “I’m not going to let go of that easy.”
For the next 12 months Atkinson was in rugby league limbo.
There was little to no interest in his services, that was until Fitzgibbon handed him a lifeline to join the Sharks on a train-and-trial deal in 2023.
Atkinson didn’t hesitate, even though the coach had already settled on his long-term halves option in Hynes and Trindall.
“I wasn’t signed at the time. Melbourne had actually let me go actually,” Arkinson said.
“To be honest the Covid years didn’t help with my development as halve to be honest. They thought it was in my best interest to go back to full-time footy at the Falcons.
“There wasn’t any interest at all at the time and that’s when Fitzy and Moons (Darren Mooney) called me, so I jumped at it with both hands.”
Atkinson has had a breakout season for Cronulla, helping the side stay in top four calculations when key men Hynes and Trindall were sidelined throughout the year.
His form, and confidence, is sure to raise his stocks when the playmaker hits the open market on November 1.
Atkinson told this masthead he is happy to bide his time behind Hynes and Trindall as Fitzgibbon’s utility on the bench, where he was named for Friday’s do-or-die showdown against the Cowboys at Allianz Stadium.
But a Queensland homecoming isn’t off the cards.
Both Brisbane and the Gold Coast Titans are searching for a succession play for experienced playmakers Adam Reynolds and Kieran Foran.
But Atkinson wants to repay the faith Fitzgibbon showed when no-one else did.
“Being at Cronulla is a chance to develop my craft,” Atkinson said.
“I know I still have spades of growth in me and my game. In such an important role in being in the halves, you never stop learning.
“But I’ll always want to push for a spot. I have that competitive side to me. But I’m loving my time at Cronulla.”
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