Eels coach Brad Arthur has revealed superstar Reagan Campbell-Gillard spent ‘a couple of days in hospital’ last week in the build-up to his masterful performance against the Bulldogs on Sunday night.
Campbell-Gillard has been a reliable performer for the Eels this season despite their up-and-down form, but put on his best showing of 2023 in the 30-4 win.
His hard running and earth-shaking tackles set the tone from the opening minute, with the Eels enforcer racking up a game-high 161 run metres and seven tackle busts.
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He set up the team’s third try with a big kick-off return and quick play the ball, before scoring one of his own by charging over ex-teammate Reed Mahoney.
It was a sensational State of Origin audition after controversially being snubbed for Jacob Saifiti by NSW coach Brad Fittler last year.
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Coach Brad Arthur was full of praise for the ultra-consistent 29-year-old, saying: “He’s the same every week for us, Reg. We rely on him a bit.
“It was nice to finish with Reg, Junior (Paulo), Matto (Ryan Matterson), and Laney (Shaun Lane) on the bench and give some other guys some game time. We can’t just rely on those blokes, everyone else has got to step up and get the job done.”
Then he made the shock revelation that the boom prop had spent time in hospital last week.
Arthur said: “We’re talking about Reg, he spent a couple of days in hospital last week – he managed to get himself out on the field to play for us … he knows how important he is to the team.”
Captain Clint Gutherson said: “He’s probably a little bit disappointed with how he played last week. We always knew he was going to come out and give that type of performance.
“You know straight away what game you’re going to get from Reg. When he’s charging into the line like that, you know it’s going to be a good one.”
He added: “We need him to be like that every single week. As Brad said, NRL games are hard to win. When Reg is going forward it gives us a good chance.”
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