Hurrell plays for his mates
THERE was a time this year when Konrad Hurrell thought he’d battle to play another NRL game, let alone finals.
Struggling to get on the field after a falling out with the Warriors, Hurrell left New Zealand hoping to make his mark on the Gold Coast and is pinching himself to be on the cusp of a maiden finals run.
Hurrell burst on to the rugby league scene, claiming a premiership with the Warriors’ under-20s in his first season in the game in 2011, the same year the club’s first grade side played the NRL grand final.
Future success seemed certain but the Warriors have been in the finals wilderness since and Hurrell now finds himself desperate to help his new club end its own playoff drought.
“It’s still one of the best highlights of my career winning the trophy in my first year of playing league,’’ he said.
“After that I was excited to make the NRL but I just haven’t ever made it to the NRL finals.’’
The bullocking centre has rediscovered his best form since arriving on the Gold Coast and wants to maintain that today when the Titans meet Penrith in a game where a win will deliver them to the finals for the first time since 2010. Hurrell had watched the Titans from across the ditch, admiring the team’s ability to scrap for each other.
“They were always the underdog team. I’m sure that no one believed they would come this far but watching a couple of the games it was pretty good to watch because there were no superstars in there and everyone was playing for each other,’’ he said.
“They won a couple of good games and they lost a couple of games that they should have won. I thought to myself that it would be good for me to come in and play with this team.’’
And he knows he has responsibility to match the effort of every player who has got the team to within a win of finals.
“Obviously I came in late for the team and they’ve worked their a***s off in the pre-season and all year to get in this position,’’ he said.
“I just want to go in there and do my job and help them as much as I can, obviously I don’t want to let them down, they’ve worked hard to make the finals.”