Sirro’s baby boy to follow in paw prints
THE little blond boy pictured crying in the arms of dad Paul Sironen during his Balmain farewell is now continuing the family tradition.
Tonight, nearly 19 years to the day, Bayley Sironen will make his NRL debut for the Wests Tigers as proud Paul and the Sironen clan make their way to Campbelltown Sports Stadium.
Paul played 246 games for Balmain, featured in two grand finals, and went on to represent NSW and Australia, while his other son Curtis played more than 60 games for the Tigers before moving to Manly.
Sironen said he could have only dreamt of his two sons one day playing for the Tigers as he walked around in the rain at Leichhardt Oval on that soggy night in 1998.
“It’s a romantic notion they would both go on to play for the Tigers, and from a selfish point of view I was hoping they would have had the chance to play together at the Tigers, but that just wasn’t to be for different reasons,’’ Sironen said.
“But they’ve now had the chance to run on in first grade for the Tigers, and that’s the next best thing. If it’s five minutes, 15 minutes, he’ll remember it for the rest of his life.’’
Like Curtis – who will be in Auckland to prepare for Manly’s clash with the Warriors on Sunday – Bayley has had two ankle and shoulder reconstructions, and only now been able to finally string some good games together in the Tigers’ well- beaten NSW Cup side.
Bayley remains unsigned for next season, but Paul was thankful coach Ivan Cleary made a point of allowing the Sironen name to live on at least a couple more weeks.