Tyson Frizell wants to create a new chapter wth Newcastle

Newcastle forward Tyson Frizell on meeting St George Illawarra: “If there is sour grapes there from a few blokes, so be it. It is footy.”

Tyson Frizell’s switch to Newcastle created angst among Dragons fans. Picture: Getty Images

Tyson Frizell’s only regret is that he couldn’t do more. That he couldn’t bring success to St George Illawarra during his time at the Dragons.

As he prepares to face his former teammates at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday afternoon, Frizell says he would be surprised if there are any sour grapes over the way he departed St George Illawarra for Newcastle.

If there are, so be it. He left comfortable in the knowledge that he did everything in his power in his eight years — and 166 games — at St George Illawarra to earn the respect of his teammates and arguably the game’s most passionate fan base.

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“I feel like I did everything I could for that club,” Frizell said.

“I went out on my own terms. It is a chapter in the past and I am looking forward to creating a new one with this side.

“If there is sour grapes there from a few blokes, so be it. It is footy. These things happen. You have to get on with it.

“I wish I would have been able to bring more success to the club when I was there. But like I said, I felt like I did everything I could to play well for that club and give it an opportunity to succeed.

“I guess I wasn’t able to do it. I went out on my own terms. I am looking to do something here, hopefully play well, put my best foot forward for this club.

“They showed faith in me by wanting me to come here. I can repay them by playing good footy.”

So far so good on that front. The Knights suffered a shock loss to Wests Tigers last weekend but before that, they were one of the form teams in the competition.

The Dragons fought hard to keep Frizell and they were devastated when he decided to leave. Even then, he spent nearly 12 months in a Red V jersey before he made the switch.

There was talk that he left because he wanted to play finals football, something that largely eluded him at St George Illawarra.

“I think there was probably a little bit of speculation about wanting me to leave early,” Frizell said. “At no time at all was I looking to move one. I am a man of my word — I signed a contract and I was going to live by it.

“If the club wanted to get rid of me, that would have been a different story. I just wanted to play my style of footy, I take pride in the way I play footy, and I wanted to be happy coming off that field knowing I had done everything for my teammates.

“It wasn’t the season that myself and the team had planned for. It was not the way I really wanted to leave the club but it has happened now and I have moved on.”

He has been warmly embraced by the supporters in Newcastle, just as he was by the St George Illawarra faithful. They were up in arms when he departed.

“You do feel the outside noise and how passionate the fans are wanting to be successful,” he said.

“As a player, when you are in that bubble, you know how desperate it is. People from the outside think you are just turning it up and not giving it a crack.

“But we do everything we can to prepare so well to be able to get a win on the weekend. Wins aren’t easy in the NRL.

“It is going to be spoken about me playing against my old club but I want to win every game. It is no different coming up against the Dragons.

“They have two pretty nice wins under their belt so they will be full of confidence and wanting to pay some footy.