A change of culture has Tyson Frizell confident St George Illawarra will secure a top eight finish this season.
The Dragons start their 2017 NRL campaign against Penrith at UOW Jubilee Oval, Kogarah on Saturday afternoon looking to banish the disappointment of last season with an opening victory over the highly-fancied Panthers.
Frizell, who has overcome a back injury, will lead a strong Dragons pack that will feature new signings Paul Vaughan and Cameron McInnes.
And the 25-year-old NSW and Australia representative believes the Dragons will show vast improvement on last season thanks to hard work – and a change in culture.
“[We’ve worked on] a lot of the stuff off the field [as well]. Trying to change a bit of the culture that was starting to sneak into the club. I don’t think we coped too well with the outside noise and the media with everything going on with footy,” Frizell said.
“I think the boys have learnt to deal with that now. It was kind of tough on a few of the younger boys. It was the first time that has kind of happened to that group of players. I wouldn’t say it didn’t affect us at all because I’d probably be lying. No doubt it wasn’t the overall factor in why we were losing but it did contribute to the stress and wanting to perform.”
That change in culture has benefited the vibe around the club at training during a grueling pre-season. Which is why Frizell believes Dragons fans can feel confident looking ahead to the new season.
Definitely top eight, for sure. Nothing less than a final. With the squad that we do have at the moment I’m pretty confident.
- Tyson Frizell
“The mood around training. The hard work that we’ve put in throughout the pre-season. It’s kind of hard to say at this time of the year, not playing too much footy and doing a lot of training but we’re very hopeful and very confident,” Frizell said.
“We’ve put in a lot of hard work this off season to fix up those areas where we weren’t so good last year. Off the back of that hard work I’m sure we’re going to have a good year.”
Frizell has also set team and personal goals. For him, it is to continue to progress as a player and develop his consistency. For the team, it is reaching the semi-finals as a bare minimum.
“Definitely top eight for sure. Nothing less than a final. With the squad that we do have at the moment I’m pretty confident. It’s the only option we have for ourselves,” he said.
