ILLAWARRA RUGBY
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It was only an asterisk but that tiny, star-shaped symbol at the end of Paul Tuala's name hit him like a heavyweight's punch.
Tuala knew the asterisk meant he wouldn't be lining up alongside his University teammates in Saturday's grand final against Camden.
A member of the NSW Country Eagles, Tuala is in the team for Saturday's National Rugby Championship clash with unbeaten Melbourne at Orange.
"I got told that I'm playing for the Eagles this week," Tuala said.
"I was dreading it since last week. They have a players list on the board and if your name has an asterisk on it you'll be going away that week. Yesterday when I got there I went straight to the board and there was no asterisk. But then we had a team meeting and by the end of the meeting there was an asterisk. I wanted to cry. I was so gutted."
Tuala, the last link to Uni's 2006 title-winning team, showed his worth with a powerful performance in the Mallee Bulls' 30-12 defeat of Avondale in the major semi-final.
Camden won't mind that the hard-running number eight will be absent in the Illawarra premiership decider at WIN Stadium.
Despite his devastation at missing the grand final, the 28-year-old aims to make the most of his opportunity with the Eagles.
"Being picked to play against Melbourne is definitely a positive," he said.
"I was talking to my wife about it and she put everything in perspective. She sacrificed a lot for me to do this, so I just have to suck it up.
"Some guys never get to play in a grand final and I guess I was lucky to play back in '06 when we got up.
"I'd love to be there with the boys on Saturday. I'll be definitely wearing my Mallee Bulls training t-shirt under my Eagles jersey."
While the Bulls were the first team through to the grand final, titleholders Camden progressed with last week's 28-22 defeat of minor premiers Avondale in the final.
Uni beat Camden in both regular season meetings, winning 24-15 in round four and 36-26 in round 13.
"They'll be hungry to make it two in a row, but it's been a while for our boys getting to the grand final so there's a lot of motivation there for our club," Tuala said.
The Bulls are also contesting the second grade and under 20 Colts grand finals on Saturday.
