“Oh look, at the moment if the opportunity comes along and I’m good enough to make the team, then yeah, obviously I’d welcome the idea,” he said.
“But right now, I’m just focused on the Sharks. Either way, if they keep the rules, change the rules, they’ll do as they see fit. All that is outside my control.”
Addin Fonua-Blake captained Tonga at last year’s Pacific Championships.Credit: Getty Images
Fonua-Blake is at peace with his Origin exclusion, saying: “That ship sailed a long time ago for me, and I’m happy representing Tonga and playing for the Sharks.”
But he admitted to being “a bit jealous” every year when the interstate series kicked off.
“They’re probably the biggest games on the calendar and you’d love to be a part of it,” he said.
“So yeah, like I said, if the opportunity came along, I wouldn’t mind having to go in that arena and see how I go. We’ll see what happens, I guess.”
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Meanwhile, Fonua-Blake was confident an Achilles issue that hindered him during Cronulla’s 14-12 win against South Sydney on Saturday was nothing to worry about.
He still managed to carry the ball 162 metres and make 20 tackles in his 47 minutes on the field, helping Cronulla to post their third consecutive victory.
“It was an ugly win, but sometimes you’ve got to win ugly,” Fonua-Blake said.
Dragons boss locked in for three more years as recruitment guru arrives
Dan Walsh, Michael Chammas
Dragons chairman Andrew Lancaster will continue in the role for another three years following changes to the St George Illawarra constitution aimed at providing further off-field stability at the joint-venture club.
Lancaster’s lengthy extension comes at a critical juncture for the club given last Friday’s gallant loss to North Queensland has coach Shane Flanagan staring down a second successive bottom-eight finish, which would extend the Dragons’ finals drought to seven seasons.
Daniel Anderson starts as recruitment manager at St George Illawarra this week, having been lured from the Roosters, while chief executive Tim Watsford took charge of the club only in June.
Lancaster’s current three-year tenure was due to expire at the end of this season under terms agreed to following WIN Corporation’s purchase of the Steelers’ 50 per cent share in the club in 2018.
The initial privatisation agreement stipulated a new chair every 12 months on a rotational basis. Between 2018 and 2022, Andrew Gordon, Brian Johnston, Craig Young and Lancaster served in the role, before club policy was changed to guarantee a minimum three-year term for each chair.
A similar agreement has now been signed off by the St George Illawarra board. As a result, Lancaster – a member of the board at Nine Entertainment, publisher of this masthead, and WIN chief executive – is now set to remain at the Dragons helm until at least the end of 2028.
Dragons chairman Andrew Lancaster.Credit:
On the field, Friday’s defeat to the Cowboys was St George Illawarra’s ninth by eight points or less this season. Had the Red V won half of those tight losses, they would be among the five-team log jam scrambling for a finals spot.
Anderson will lead a revamped recruitment department at the club from Monday, with the Dragons in the market for star power up front and in the halves to complement a promising batch of emerging local juniors.
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Michael Chammas and Andrew “Joey” Johns dissect the upcoming NRL round, plus the latest footy news, results and analysis. Sign up for the Sin Bin newsletter.
