“Knew I could play NRL”: Newest Shark opens up on long journey to first grade

Cronulla Sharks rookie Jayden Berrell has opened up about his long journey to his NRL debut and how he thought his chances of making his first grade dream come true was all but over.

Berrell made his long-awaited debut against the North Queensland Cowboys in Round 21 at the mature age of 29-years-old.

The 2021 Queensland Cup Player of the Year with the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in 2021 said at his age he thought it may have been time to start focusing on life beyond football.

“I always had a feeling and kind of knew I could mix it with the NRL boys and that was just the determination I had behind it all to stick at it and keep going,” he said on SEN's Sportsday NSW.

“I think it was more of a point to prove to myself… I played in the Junior Kangaroos squad back in 2015 and out of that squad there were two of us that hadn’t played first grade and I was like I can’t be one of the guys who haven’t played, that was something that drove me.

“I knew I could play the game and I knew I could play NRL.”

Berrell also spoke about his long days in the Queensland Cup, where he would travel from where he lived on the Gold Coast in the early hours of the morning to work as a tradesman in Brisbane and then train and play at Wynnum Manly, where he led the Seagulls to the 2021 grand final.

“By the time I would get home it would be 9pm or 9.30pm at night and you don’t get to see the missus or the kids that night,” he said.

A video showing the moment Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon announced his selection went viral on social media with the post clearly showing the Runaway Bay junior to be a favourite amongst his teammates, who knew how long his journey was to that moment.

Berrell said it was a moment he would never forget.

“I held the tears back in that (video), they almost came after when I jumped on the phone with the missus but it was so special,” he said.

“There’d be some times where I’d be heading into training thinking this might be the week, you know there might be a few out but it caught me off guard that day, I didn’t have a clue.

“Then (Fitzgibbon) puts the Shark number up and there was probably only two of us in the squad that week that hadn’t actually debuted and I just remember thinking ‘Jesus Christ is this about to happen’.

“It was special mate, I was lost for words, I was honestly speechless, Fitzy was trying to get me to open up a bit but I was so lost for words and caught off guard.”

Berrell, who has now played three NRL games for Cronulla, said his advice to youngsters would be just to work hard and commit to it and “anything is possible, even a debut at 29”.

The man who was born in Ipswich has been named at No.14 for the Sharks this weekend and has also been re-signed by the club for another year.