PARKES Spacemen president Jaimee Timmins has left the door open for Brandon Tago to return to the club following the much-loved forward’s departure for Queensland this week.
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Tago informed his team recently of his decision to return to his home state for family reasons.
But Timmins refuses to believe it is the end of her club’s Group 11 premiership hopes for 2016, pointing to the imminent return from injury of Dennis Moran and Jordan Pope as positives.
“They’ll come back and we’ve got a lot of other talented players as well,” she said.
“We try to focus on all the players as a whole because you can’t build a strategy around one player.
“Tago is a loss but he still supports the Spacies and we’d love to have him back.”
Timmins confirmed Tago was going home due to some health matters within his family, not because of any issue with the Parkes club.
The Western Rams second-rower produced a typically barnstorming performance last week against Forbes, in what turned out to be his final match for the club for the time being.
The win moved Parkes up to second on the Group 11 ladder and it was seen by some as the kind of performance which could really kick-start the Spacemen’s season but Timmins said it would have been unfair of her to ask Tago to stay at the club.
“It is very sad to see him go but he needs to be with his family,” she said.
“There’s some health worries in his family there so that’s the best place for him.”
While the powerful ball runner has yet to confirm where his playing career lies, Timmins believes it could be possible for Tago to be seen in the red, white and blue again.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if he was back for the finals,” she admitted.
“I haven’t spoke to him at all but he’s not leaving because of any issue with the club.”
The loss of Tago is not only a blow for Parkes’ premiership hopes this season, it also robs Group 11 of one of its most entertaining players.
Since arriving at Parkes prior to the 2015 season, the former Queensland under-20s State of Origin has made a name for himself as one of the most destructive ball runners in the competition.
He also represented the Western Rams for the past two years.
“He just has that drive,” Timmins said.
“He doesn’t stop and it takes a few people to bring him down because he has really got that drive.”
While most rugby league fans and players are well aware of Tago’s efforts on the field, Timmins said he will be missed just as much of it.
The president pointed to just last weekend when Tago was at Jock Colley field at 9am to help the club prepare for the bumper clash with the Magpies.