Dragons prop Blake Lawrie has set his sights on incomes a State of Origin debut in 2024, however the hardworking center concedes that gained’t be potential if his group finishes close to the underside of the desk once more.
Lawrie, 27, is coming off his strongest season within the NRL after claiming the Dragons Medal final 12 months because the membership’s greatest participant.
In a 12 months the place not a lot went proper for St George Illawarra, Lawrie carried the group on his again, usually punching out large minutes after they have been lacking troops within the center with out shirking any of his tasks.
It’s that onerous work that may impress new Blues coach Michael Maguire, who might be tempted to herald a number of contemporary faces in a bid to finish Queensland’s current dominance.
“I felt like I took my game to another level last year, and I want to take it to another level again. I want to be in the representative conversation,” he mentioned.
“But first and foremost, I want to play finals footy at the Dragons and we have to be consistent and winning games. That’s what we’re going to be doing, and we’re confident in that.
“Everyone who goes out and plays for their club wants to reach their potential and play the game at the highest levels they can. Obviously, there are high levels above just the NRL. That is the State of Origin arena and the representative arena.
“Obviously, I’ve got a lot of hard work and a lot of consistent to play before I get there. But first and foremost, my full focus is here at the Dragons and my teammates and supporting each other and our staff and our coach and coaches and performance staff.
“If we’re winning games and playing consistent footy, I believe that will take care of itself.”
Winning video games is one thing the Dragons didn’t do final 12 months, with the Red V ending second final on the again of simply 5 victories.
Rankings don’t all the time matter given Stefano Utoikamanu made his Origin debut though the Tigers completed with the wood spoon.
“I’ve obviously set myself goals and I would love to be in a representative conversation. But at the same time, I’m not going to be the representative conversation if we come last or second last again,” Lawrie mentioned.
“So first and foremost I have to play consistent footy for the Dragons and win games and then get in the challenge for the top four and top eight. Hopefully, it takes care of it.”
The Dragons have already been written off heading into the brand new season underneath Shane Flanagan, however Lawrie is assured they will overcome a string of pre-season setbacks to be extra aggressive.
“People might think that we’re kidding ourselves, but it doesn’t matter. We believe in our four walls and the people that we’ve got,” he mentioned.
“Yeah, we’ve had some rough recruitment things not go our way, but it is what it is. Whoever Flanno gets, we have full trust in Flanno. He’s only going to add to what we’re building here.
“We’ve seen how our training has come over the last three months compared to where it started, so it’s exciting times ahead.”
Source web site: www.foxsports.com.au
