Of all the NRL players to run out on to Carrington Park on Saturday night Wayde Egan would have been the one to feel closest to home.
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The Lithgow graduate played a stack of his junior footy at the Bathurst ground in Storm colours - a touch ironic given he returned to tackle Melbourne at the venue - while also guiding Workies' premier league side to 54-16 win over Panthers as a teenage halfback in 2015.
Certainly, Saturday's 32-2 loss in Penrith colours wasn't the happiest of returns but Egan says heading west and playing in front of a handful of family and friends made the venture more than worth while.
He maybe a Penrith player now but he'll always be a Lithgow boy.
"All my best mates play for them, my old man is the trainer for first grade and he's coaching the under 18s ... I always follow how they're going," Egan said of his affinity with Workies.
His last game on Carrington Park prior to Saturday's NRL clash against the Storm was in fact that massive win in Workies colours.
"Yeah, I think it was in 2015?" Egan smiled looking back at that memorable season where Workies made the Group 10 grand final.
"It's good to get back out in the country on a ground I'm pretty familiar with. A few my cousins and rellos from around here came up, which was good."
... we don't want to be 1-3 coming out of round four.
- Wayde Egan looking ahead to his side's clash with the Wests Tigers.
Penrith battled against the clinical Storm throughout the 30-point loss but for Egan the match represented a chance to continue to develop as a first grader.
The young rake is gradually earning more minutes off the bench under Ivan Cleary and said he's relishing the chance to cut his teeth in the big time.
"Last year I sort of only played the backend of games but I'm starting to get a few more minutes now and I'm taking the opportunities when they come," he said.
"It's a play-it-by-ear sort of thing, but whatever Ivan and the coaching staff want I'll try and fill that role."
He said the fundamentals were letting Penrith down three rounds into the new season, with the club sitting 14th on the ladder following just the one win.
"Ball control, silly errors coming out of our own end ... our defence in the first half was good but a few one-on-one misses cost us (against the Storm)," he said.
Penrith plays the Tigers on Friday night and Egan said it was virtually a must-win for the men in black.
"Definitely, we don't want to be 1-3 coming out of round four," he said.
Nick McGrath
Editor, Central Western Daily
Editor, Central Western Daily
