I WOULD GO BACK TO LEEDS
Papua New Guinea hooker Segeyaro discusses the club he walked out on
PAPUA NEW GUINEA hooker James Segeyaro has revealed he would contemplate a return to Leeds Rhinos – despite walking out on them in controversial circumstances last year.
The highly-rated Cronulla Sharks star hopes to cause a major World Cup upset when the Kumuls face England in Sunday’s quarter-final at Melbourne.
His dynamism has been one of the reasons behind their fine form so far and they are expected to make life difficult for Wayne Bennett’s side.
But British fans already know Segeyaro well after he joined Leeds from Penrith Panthers, initially on loan, in June last year and played a crucial role in helping them stave off relegation.
He picked up nine wins from his 10 outings as he safely negotiated Rhinos through the tricky Qualifiers and, in September, signed a two-year deal.
However, after heading back to Australia at the end of that campaign, Segeyaro caused a furore when telling the stunned West Yorkshire club he would not be returning for pre-season training due to ‘homesickness’.
Understandably irritated, Leeds duly placed a £250,000 price tag on his head, threatened legal action and insisted, if they had to, they would let the player rot until the end of 2018.
However, after a long impasse, Cronulla finally agreed to pay a settlement fee in March to allow the 27-year-old to resume his career in the NRL and he is now flourishing again at the World Cup.
Segeyaro has kept in touch with several of his old team-mates, including house-mate Brett Delaney, and indeed revealed he spoke with Brian McDermott when the Rhinos coach took his United States team to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea for last weekend’s final group game.
“It was good to catch up with Mac and a couple of other boys as well,” he said, Leeds having signed Manly’s Matt Parcell as his replacement and going on to win an eighth Super League title.
“They had a great year and congratulations to them for winning the Grand Final. Hopefully, there’s no bad blood.
“I really enjoyed my time there: the fans, the whole area, how the club works. They really care for you.
“If I ever had the opportunity to go back I would, at the back end of my career. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was a great experience.”
Just as is the Kumuls’ current run on the big stage and he sees no reason why their tournament should end on Sunday.
Michael Marum’s team capitalised on home advantage in the group stages with victories over Wales, Ireland and the United States in the sultry heat of Port Moresby.
Although temperatures have dropped to around 22 degrees in Melbourne, Segeyaro likes his team’s chances as they enter the knock-out stages.
“Playing in the heat would work in our favour – I think it’s like minus two in England now – but we’re here in Melbourne and we’ll make the most of it,” Segeyaro said at the Kumuls’ training base on the outskirts of Melbourne.
“It’s been unreal so far. It’s been a pretty overwhelming experience. Hopefully, we’ll put in a good performance on Sunday afternoon. I’m pretty confident.
“We’ve got the best squad I’ve been involved in.
“The boys like the physical side of things and I think we have a good chance on Sunday.”
Segeyaro will go up against two of his old team-mates, Ryan Hall and Kallum Watkins, who he believes would be a big hit in the NRL.
“Kallum’s a freak,” he said, about the England centre who was rested, like winger Hall, for last week’s final group game victory over France.
“I hoped he’d play over here in the NRL, he’d have been really good.
“Ryan is so consistent, every time he puts an England jumper on he’s always bringing the ball back hard, starting the sets off well.
“England have got a really good team. Their forwards are definitely the backbone of the team with Sam (Burgess) coming back and James (Graham) is an outstanding player.
“He’s one of the massive leaders in the team.”
Meanwhile, England came from 8-6 down to beat Papua New Guinea 36-8 in their opening game of the Women’s World Cup in Sydney.
Warrington Wolves have signed Leigh’s Australian winger Mitch Brown on a one-year deal.
The ex-Cronulla player, 30, helped Centurions win promotion to Super League after joining midway through 2016 but could not prevent an immediate return to the Championship last season.