DRAGONS recruit Andrew McCullough has been around rugby league long enough to know that there's no changing some opinions. After 14 seasons and 268 NRL games, he's not about to start trying.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
There's certainly a large - and vocal - section of Dragons fans convinced lionhearted skipper Cam McInnes was moved on for McCullough to reunite with Anthony Griffin in Wollongong this season. There's others equally convinced he was unwanted in Brisbane.
The former Maroons hooker accepts those narratives but is eager to make an impact for his new side at Mudgee this weekend when the Dragons tackle South Sydney in the Charity Shield.
"People can make their own assumptions but I've had a few chats with Kev (Broncos coach Kevin Walters) and he said he didn't want me to go," McCullough said.
"That's why it took so long because the decision was up to me to either stick there for the year or take the three years here. That's why I took so long to make the call. It took a while, my head and my heart were fighting with each other.
"Did I think it was going to happen, no I didn't, but I think everything happens for a reason."
McCullough didn't have to wait long for his first outing in the Red V in a brief stint in the club's trial loss to the Eels last week. He'll get a much longer stint in Saturday's Charity Shield on Saturday but, after all the back and forth over where he'd land this season, it was a relief to finally get on the park.
"It was a bit of a drawn out process obviously, but when it all happened I had to get down here pretty quickly and I had one and a half sessions with the boys and then a 20-minute run with the boys last Thursday," he said.
"It was good to have that hit-out even though I didn't know a couple of the boys or certain players, it was just really good to get a run."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News