MAKING A SCENE
Would-be actor’s shock return to Coast footy
KEVIN Gordon has not ruled out the chance of making a professional rugby league comeback after cutting short his retirement to play for the Tugun Seahawks alongside older brother Dennis this season.
It’s part of the pair’s plan to get match fit for the Emerging Nations World Championship in November this year, when they will represent the Philippines, where their mother was born. Kevin scored 58 tries in 118 NRL games for the Gold Coast before retiring in 2015.
“My knee and hip were playing up. I wasn’t running as fast as I used to and I was thinking ‘this is s***’ but I had other passions that I wanted to do in my life,” he explained.
“Sometimes out on the field I would be like “there is more to life than just running into people”. I thought to what I used to like to do and I always liked making videos and music and all that kind of weird stuff and after six months of thinking I was like ‘yeah I’m done’.”
He headed to Los Angeles to pursue his dreams and returned only a few months ago when his visa expired.
Dennis, a former Tweed Heads and Burleigh state league player, was talked into signing up for the Seahawks by his housemate, and he in turn nudged Kevin to pull the boots back on this season.
“I found myself trying to get fit again and I just thought I’m doing the same training that I do when I’m playing footy so I might as well come and train down here,” Gordon said.
“It’s a lot easier running a field for an hour than sitting on the treadmill for an hour.”
DRAGONS players are confident they can keep the good times going – even beyond “April” – heading into Sunday’s clash with the Titans.
Notorious for bursting out of the blocks and sitting near the top of the ladder in the opening months, the challenge for St George Illawarra will be to maintain their form for the entire 26 rounds.
Since coach Paul McGregor took the reins, the Dragons have twice been second on the ladder after eight rounds, only to get the wobbles in the second half of the season.
Now the leaders, the Dragons can make it three wins on the trot when they travel to Toowoomba to play the Gold Coast on Sunday, and possibly stretch the record further when they host Newcastle and South Sydney.
“We’ve traditionally been strong starters, and that’s because our pre-seasons have been so challenging and it gets everyone in the best frame of mind,’’ Euan Aitken said yesterday. “But the whole message during the pre-season has been consistency.
“We’re impressed with the first couple of games, but it means nothing if we’re not consistent. We’re playing the Titans, who have typically not been a top-eight side, but last year we kept losing to the
bottom-eight sides.
“The Titans have a lot of attacking options across the park, but if we turn up ready to go, I think we can get the ‘W’ again.’’
Aitken said the arrival of Ben Hunt and leadership of Pommy prop James Graham were two reasons he believed the Dragons would not run out of puff.
Tyson Frizell said the arrival of Hunt would go a long way to helping close out tight games, which the halfback and Gareth Widdop did last Thursday in the come-from-behind derby win over Cronulla.
“Last year we probably would have gone away from what was needed and lost that game,’’ Frizell said. “Knowing how to stay in the fight and playing to your strengths, we struggled to do that at different stages last year.”