De Belin mission to save St George Illawarra Dragons’ NRL season

In the end, he could only watch helplessly as NSW succumbed to Queensland again.

So after serving as the shadow player – on stand-by if Blues captain Boyd Cordner or Dragons teammate Tyson Frizell had failed to prove their fitness – de Belin is back with a mission to save St George Illawarra’s season.

“It was hard, I probably did think I was going to be playing, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up,” he said. 

“Seeing Boyd early in the week, I didn’t he was going to be good (to play). Even Tyson has been battling injuries,I thought my opportunity would come. 

“It’s disappointing. Lozza said to me (to) prepare as if you’re going to play.”

De Belin played 75 minutes in the golden point loss to Canberra, coming off the bench to produce 43 tackles and 197 metres.

Another set of statistics to show he’s an elite endurance forward.

The State of Origin period, however, has been particularly harsh on the Dragons, as their impressive early-season form has been followed by four losses in their past five games.

Frizell is still carrying rib and ankle problems, Josh Dugan again in the spotlight for a pre-Origin afternoon drinking session and de Belin missing Dragons training while in NSW camp. 

"You could look at it as a factor, but we’ve got blokes that are big enough and ugly enough to fill their spots,” teammate Tariq Sims said of playing without Frizell and Dugan during the representative campaign.

“We’ve got to make sure that whoever is pulled up into the side is up to their potential.”

While the Dragons would need to win at least five, possibly six of their remaining games to be a top four contender, they are under threat of missing the finals completely.

Heading into Sunday’s crucial game against third-placed Manly at WIN Stadium, the Dragons are now only two points ahead of Penrith.

“I’d love to win the remainder of the year, every single game,” Sims said. 

“We’ve got to make sure we stay committed to what we’re trying to achieve and dominating in the middle of the park.”

While de Belin will have to wait until at least next year to try and turn NSW’s fortunes around, he is optimistic of being part of the Australian squad for the World Cup.

It’s another incentive to try and lift the Dragons back into NRL title consideration, starting with Sunday’s clash in Wollongong.

“If anything, I’m a little bit disappointed that I haven’t build on (early season form),” he said. 

“I’ve plateaued a little bit, but I’m looking for a strong back-end of the year.

“I haven’t played finals for a couple years now.

“I want to be back there … and hopefully some World Cup aspirations at the end as well.”

Round 20

Sunday (2pm)

DRAGONS v SEA EAGLES

WIN Stadium

TV: Live on Fox League