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http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl...s-top-try-scorer/story-e6frf3pu-1227531894506
CURTIS Rona was sitting at home watching TV when the phone rang and the voice down the line grumbled, “it’s Dessie’’.
“’Dessie who?’,’’ Rona said.
“’It’s Des Hasler from the Bulldogs’.
“That’s when I jumped up out of the seat and thought, ‘oh, wow, I wonder what he wants’.
“I told everybody to be quiet, raced into my room and we had a conversation for about five minutes. I just knew coming to the Bulldogs would be a good stepping stone for myself. It’s been the best decision in my career so far.’’
Hasler had seen something in Rona during his handful of appearances for the North Queensland Cowboys.
Now everybody knows why Hasler made that call last year as Rona has repaid the faith with an amazing 22 tries in almost as many games on the Canterbury left wing.
If he crosses just once against the Roosters at Allianz Stadium — the TAB have him listed at $2.25 to do so — he’ll join Nigel Vagana and Ben Barba on a Canterbury-record 23 tries in the one season.
That’s not a bad effort for the kid who was born in New Zealand, raised in Perth, and spent a brief time at the Cowboys before settling at Belmore.
Rona and his combination with left centre Josh Morris will pose Chooks’ opposites Blake Ferguson and Shaun Kenny-Dowall plenty of problems.
Melbourne were happy to focus plenty of their early attack at Ferguson and Kenny-Dowall last Friday night.
Rona, 23, started out the year just hoping to become a regular in the Bulldogs’ NRL side. That was something he was disappointed he couldn’t achieve at the Cowboys.
He’s gone on to play every game except one, which was against the Roosters in round 21 when a minor knee injury grounded him.
For a big man, Rona has shown tremendous ability to keep his giant frame in the field of play. He rates his long-range effort against his former club as one of his favourites.
Brett Morris, the Dogs No. 1 who is also no stranger to the wing on the Origin and international stage, told The Daily Telegraph: “At the start of the year I didn’t know a whole lot about Curtis Rona, but he’s obviously taken the opportunity with both hands
“Some of the positions he’s got himself into to score tries this year have been unbelievable. When you give him the ball out wide, you’ve got the confidence he can score points. You need guys who get half a chance and can turn them into points, especially at this time of year.
“I think he’s surprised a lot of people being so big but also having that ability to contort himself in those corners to score the tries he has.’’
Rona said the showdown with Kenny-Dowall and Ferguson would be tough, they were both ‘’big and rangy like myself’’, but he and Morris had done well to both score and defend tries all year.
“I feel we’ve been doing a good job together, and I just can’t wait to pull on that jersey Friday night,’’ Rona said.
CURTIS Rona was sitting at home watching TV when the phone rang and the voice down the line grumbled, “it’s Dessie’’.
“’Dessie who?’,’’ Rona said.
“’It’s Des Hasler from the Bulldogs’.
“That’s when I jumped up out of the seat and thought, ‘oh, wow, I wonder what he wants’.
“I told everybody to be quiet, raced into my room and we had a conversation for about five minutes. I just knew coming to the Bulldogs would be a good stepping stone for myself. It’s been the best decision in my career so far.’’
Hasler had seen something in Rona during his handful of appearances for the North Queensland Cowboys.
Now everybody knows why Hasler made that call last year as Rona has repaid the faith with an amazing 22 tries in almost as many games on the Canterbury left wing.
If he crosses just once against the Roosters at Allianz Stadium — the TAB have him listed at $2.25 to do so — he’ll join Nigel Vagana and Ben Barba on a Canterbury-record 23 tries in the one season.
That’s not a bad effort for the kid who was born in New Zealand, raised in Perth, and spent a brief time at the Cowboys before settling at Belmore.
Rona and his combination with left centre Josh Morris will pose Chooks’ opposites Blake Ferguson and Shaun Kenny-Dowall plenty of problems.
Melbourne were happy to focus plenty of their early attack at Ferguson and Kenny-Dowall last Friday night.
Rona, 23, started out the year just hoping to become a regular in the Bulldogs’ NRL side. That was something he was disappointed he couldn’t achieve at the Cowboys.
He’s gone on to play every game except one, which was against the Roosters in round 21 when a minor knee injury grounded him.
For a big man, Rona has shown tremendous ability to keep his giant frame in the field of play. He rates his long-range effort against his former club as one of his favourites.
Brett Morris, the Dogs No. 1 who is also no stranger to the wing on the Origin and international stage, told The Daily Telegraph: “At the start of the year I didn’t know a whole lot about Curtis Rona, but he’s obviously taken the opportunity with both hands
“Some of the positions he’s got himself into to score tries this year have been unbelievable. When you give him the ball out wide, you’ve got the confidence he can score points. You need guys who get half a chance and can turn them into points, especially at this time of year.
“I think he’s surprised a lot of people being so big but also having that ability to contort himself in those corners to score the tries he has.’’
Rona said the showdown with Kenny-Dowall and Ferguson would be tough, they were both ‘’big and rangy like myself’’, but he and Morris had done well to both score and defend tries all year.
“I feel we’ve been doing a good job together, and I just can’t wait to pull on that jersey Friday night,’’ Rona said.
