Konrad Hurrell - Player Discussion

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HE’S KNOWN AS A LARRIKIN AT THE TITANS BUT KONRAD HURRELL’S OFF-SEASON HAD A SOMBRE TONE AFTER CYCLONE GITA HIT TONGA LAST MONTH, AS EMMA GREENWOOD REPORTS

KONRAD Hurrell didn’t have to approach anyone at the Titans for them to know something was wrong.

The boom centre has become the heart and soul of the club since joining from the Warriors in 2016.

There are few things Hurrell loves more than a laugh and a joke - and those involve football, family and Tonga.

So when Cyclone Gita hit Tonga last month, Hurrell was not himself and coach Garth Brennan realised immediately.

“He came to me,” Hurrell said when asked if he had approached Brennan to ask if he could go home.

“I think he knew what was going on with me because obviously that’s all I have is my family and back home.

“I wasn’t myself the first two days (after the cyclone) and he knew straight away.

“He came and asked me to go home and I said no, because we were going into a trial and I didn’t want to miss out in Round 1.

“I said: ‘I can’t do it, it’s a trial game this week and I don’t want to do it, I don’t want to lose my spot’.

“But he said I could miss the first trial and play the second trial, so I jut went for a few days to go and see the family.”

HELPING HURRELL

The Titans organised the trip, eager to help put Hurrell’s mind at ease.

“It was a big relief,” Hurrell said.

“I’m here living the dream and they were struggling with the cyclone and it was just hard to think about my family struggling back home when I was still doing what I love doing.

“My headspace wasn’t here and I wasn’t having much sleep. If it wasn’t for the club and Garth, I wouldn’t have made it (over there).”

The Titans paid for the trip and know that by investing in Hurrell’s welfare they should see a return on their investment.

Fierce loyalty is another of Hurrell’s great qualities and he remains grateful to the Titans for helping revive his career after it stalled at the Warriors.

Neil Henry was the man who sold Hurrell on the Gold Coast dream, offering belief in the player as his golden carrot.

“Neil gave me a second opportunity to play footy and obviously he had faith in me to come back and play NRL again,” Hurrell said of the former coach, who was axed last season.

“It was hard at first to see what happened to him but ... we’ve just got to support him and hopefully he’ll be better in the future.”

UNDER GARTH

Hurrell has already formed a good relationship with Brennan though and the coach’s die that he go home last month is likely to seal what Titans fans hope will be a fruitful relationship.

Tonga’s remarkable World Cup run brought great pride to the tiny Pacific nation.

one of the few Tongan players born and raised there - he moved to boarding school in Auckland when he was 18 before being contracted to the Warriors -Hurrell has always had enormous pride for his country.

And seeing what the World Cup efforts meant to people has only reinforced that.

TONGAN PRIDE

“Everyone gave their all for us, they were there to support us, even when it was remaining, they’d still come and watch us train and support us,” Hurrell said, adding it was a motivating factors in heading home after the cyclone.

And like many of the men who donned the Mate Ma’a jersey, Hurrell is in no hurry to replace it with another.

“When I was first trying to get up there in league, I always wanted to play for New Zealand but at the same time play for Tonga,” Hurrell said.

“But I didn’t get the chance to play for the Kiwis and ended up playing for Tonga.

“And wearing that red jersey, I didn’t feel like wearing any other.”

Hero Hurrell putting ‘lazy’ days behind him
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KONRAD Hurrell is making a habit of nabbing the matchwinning try in remarkable Gold Coast NRL comebacks – and it’s no coincidence.

The popular centre latched onto an Ash Taylor grubber on Sunday night to ensure the Titans started their 2018 campaign with a home win, despite having given Canberra an 18-point headstart. Ten months earlier, it was the Tongan wrecking ball who again was in the right place at the right time when he collected an Anthony Don tap back to seal a 38-36 upset over the Melbourne Storm at Suncorp Stadium.

Hurrell said staying alive in the play was a facet of the game he had been consciously trying to improve. “That’s something I have been working on, pushing through and trying to get involved in every play,” he told the Bulletin.

“Obviously I’ve been lacking that, just sometimes I’m being lazy, but this year the big message is make sure everyone is in the play and on the ball and I was at the ball at the right time so it was good.” As always, Hurrell was an inspirational factor in the side’s confidenceboosting triumph.

The 26-year-old ran 134m including an especially fearsome carry that steamrolled opposite number Jarrod Croker – though in typical Hurrell fashion, he ran back to check on his rival once he realised he may have been hurt.

“That (hurting Croker) was not the intention of it,” he said.

“We were a bit under the pump and I was trying to give energy to the boys and I know that’s what I’m good at, putting my head down and running hard. That’s footy … it was either me getting hurt or him.”