A COUPLE of errors and a lairy try celebration?
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It’s not what you’d normally associate with the career of Dragons veteran Jason Nightingale, but it’s what he best remembers from his NRL debut at Jubilee Oval in round eight, 2007.
“My first touch ever was a dropped ball,” Nightingale recalled ahead of his 250th game on Friday, fittingly at the same venue.
“Benny Hornby gave a perfect pass and I think in my head I’d already run and made a break and done everything but in the end I’d left the ball behind.
“And I remember scoring a try in that corner over there. That was pretty special off some good hands from Matt Cooper.
“I remember putting it down and doing a Ben Tune swan-dive type of thing, lairing up after making two errors and thinking you’ve made up for it with one try.”
It’s why the now 31-year-old has promised “very little post-try celebration” should he get across against South Sydney in game number 250, but the ground itself feels as special as it did that night back in 2007.
“I remember so vividly, being able to play in front of home fans against Penrith,” Nightingale said.
“In the second half I remember running out onto the field and we were chasing the kickoff and that’s probably the moment it hit me.
“It was halfway into the game but I just thought ‘how good is this’. It’s what I’d wanted to do for such a long long time and wanted to keep doing for as long as I was able.
“That’s when it really sunk in, how big this club is and how big an opportunity it was to play in the top grade.”
It’s ironic that, from that memorable debut, the self-confessed “awkward thing” has become a fan, coach and player-favourite for his ability to minimise errors and for the understated way he goes about his business.
“I’ve been reasonably lucky with injuries and that sort but I’ve worked pretty hard to be consistent,” Nightingale said.
“There’s been times where I haven’t played the best game in the world but I’ve really tried to limit my bad games. I think keeping that consistency brings a bit of trust from your staff and your playing group.
“That’s one thing you want to hang your hat on when you retire, being someone people can look to and trust and know what you’re going to deliver week in week out.”
Delivering week in week out is something his side has managed so far this season, with four wins from four starts but it’s the clinical nature of the wins that’s most impressed Nightingale.
“The way we’ve been able to manage games in the last month is what’s really stood out,” he said.
“We’ve started like this the last few years but I don’t think we’ve played as consistently well for as many minutes. We’ve had a lot of patches where we’ve played well for half an hour and blown teams off the park but [this year] we’ve been a bit more grinding.
“That obviously comes back to your forwards but also having the halves to get you around the park.”
Friday’s match will continue a love affair of sorts that Nightingale shares with Souths, having played against the Rabbitohs in his past two milestone games.
“I was looking at a card the other day and my 150th game was against Souths and my 200th was against Souths,” he said.
“We won both of those game. I think it was golden point in my 150th and we beat them at the SCG in my 200th so hopefully that’s a good omen for Friday night.”