Chris Lawrence concedes that in the past two years he hasn’t played to his absolute best, but after a full pre-season he is confident he will repay patient Wests Tigers fans by helping the team make an impact in the approaching 2015 NRL season.
And when the 26 year old centre says impact he means impact in the finals.
“Every team should aspire to at least make the final eight every year,’’ he says.
“They should not be in the competition if they don’t.
“The Wests Tigers have the team to make the eight and then it’s a new competition, anything could happen, so that’s what we aim for,’’ Lawrence said.
On paper, it looks like these young Tiger cubs are oozing so much talent you can’t help thinking Lawrence is on the money.
But before Tigers fans get carried away, Lawrence says that success is conditional on the team roster staying healthy during the long NRL season.
“That’s something that we have suffered from in recent seasons and which definitely played a big part in the club not making the eight – we have had a lot of injuries at least in the last couple of years,’’ he says.
Last year the Wests Tigers were affected by the double whammy of injuries to key personnel as well as the lengthy absences of inspirational leader Robbie Farah and prop Aaron Woods, who were on State of Origin duty with the victorious NSW Blues.
Lawrence could have been the third Wests Tigers player lost to rep duties, but a serious dislocated hip injury early in 2011 cruelled his chances of selection in that year’s NSW Blues squad. At the start of the season most experts had his name pencilled as a NSW certainty.
He also missed three months of club football that season, and combined with other injuries since then, pushed him out of the frame for a State of Origin jersey for more than three years.
But he’s confident 2015 could be the year for both the Wests Tigers and Chris Lawrence – 10 years since the club won its inaugural premiership with another bunch of talented youngsters such as Benji Marshall, Brett Hodgson, Bryce Gibbs, Liam Fulton and Robbie Farah.
Lawrence was actually in the train-on squad during the 2005 finals, but he did not make his first grade debut until round 21 of the following season.
It was against the Brisbane Broncos, at Lang Park, and as Lawrence remembers it: “I ran out to the roar of 40,000 fans and I was very nervous.’’
He hadn’t yet turned 18; the young “Lawrence of Leumeah”, as he was later nicknamed by adoring fans, was 17 years and 283 days old.
He scored a try on his debut, “something I will always remember.’’
After almost nine seasons, Lawrence has played 153 games for the Tigers and scored 68 tries.
Not bad for a kid from Campbelltown, who first pulled on a footy jumper when he was just five years of age.
Eagle Vale St Andrews was his first junior club, then it was off to high school and that legendary rugby league nursery, St Gregorys College, located on the ridge of Campbelltown’s beautiful Scenic Hills.
Talking to him, two things are obvious: He’s one of the nicest people to ever wear a first grade rugby league jumper.
Secondly, he answers questions, even difficult ones, with honesty and simplicity.
There’s just no spin with this fine young fellow who’s been part of the mighty Wests Tigers furniture for almost 10 years.
He will turn 27 this year and knows that time is starting to run out if he’s ever going to get that grand final ring on his finger.
But take another look at the 2015 team coached by new mentor Jason Taylor – James Tedesco at fullback, Mitchell Moses and Luke Brooks in the halves, and Farah at hooker – and you think, well, that’s not a bad spine.
Then you add Woods up front, along with Keith Galloway, Curtis Sironen in the second row or lock forward, Pat Richards on the wing and Tim Simona in the centres, and even non Tigers fans would be impressed.
A firing Chris Lawrence may just be the final piece of the puzzle the Tigers need in place to achieve success in season 2015.
“As I said, I’m feeling great ahead of this year after a full pre-season, so I’m confident that we will do well.
“If we don’t get hurt by too many injuries.’’
