![St George Illawarra Dragons fullback Tyrell Sloan has signed a two-year extension with the club. Picture by Anna Warr St George Illawarra Dragons fullback Tyrell Sloan has signed a two-year extension with the club. Picture by Anna Warr](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/kZL4qV6yTxfrWZJxKQxjSN/f9fcd4fa-8037-486e-870e-3815a3bdb909.jpg/r0_64_1200_739_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
He has got the stamp of approval from his St George Illawarra coach, now Tyrell Sloan wants to prove to fans that he has what it takes to be the Dragons starting fullback for years to come.
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Even heading into this year the Dragons were toying with different options to wear the No 1 jersey but more often than not coach Shane Flanagan has picked the 22-year-old Sloan as his starting fullback.
Sloan has endured a roller coaster introduction to the NRL since debuting as a teenager, but appears to be finding that elusive consistency under Flanagan this season.
So much so that the Dapto Canaries junior was re-signed for a further two seasons, extending his stay at the Dragons until at least the end of the 2026 season.
The news of his re-signing came on Friday, just hours before St George Illawarra hammered the hapless Wests Tigers at WIN Stadium.
Sloan in his own words had little to do in the 56-14 win but admitted the victory capped a great week for him personally.
"The week's been a very good one. Massive win to be a part of. For me the game was through the middle, hopefully I did my job there at the back," he said.
"I want to continue to help the boys week in and week out, and for me it's just finding that consistency.
"I'm very happy to get my deal done and I love being under Flanno, he is such a great coach for me.
"Every week I'm trying to learn something new, improve where I'm going bad. There's definitely a lot to improve but I'm very happy."
Getting the deal done has taken longer than Sloan would have preferred but he was just relieved to resign with the club he loves.
"I love his club. I have a lot of passion for this club. Every time I put that jersey on, I try to wear it with passion," Sloan said.
"I'm very happy to get it done, but it got a bit annoying at the time there just because I want to be in the media for the right right reasons......I know a contract is a good thing, but I really wanted to get it done and put my focus on footy, then my future.
"Flanno believes in me a lot. Each week there's a new challenge, and for me it's not to be complacent. I need to continue to keep working hard.
"It's pleasing to know though that the club does back me but for me it's not to get complacent.
"I love the hard work of the game. I love that sense of continuing to grow and maybe get in those conversations of being amongst the better fullbacks, not just continue floating.
"I feel like if I can get my consistency right. I'm still young, I'm still learning how to be a first grader....a lot of stuff comes with it. To me it's about being a professional and repaying the faith of what the club has put in me."
Sloan added his ambition remains to be the Dragons long-term No 1.
"i don't want to be anywhere else but here," he said.
"I can't do that unless I put good performances on the board week in, week out.
"I don't want to be anywhere else, it would be cool to be a one club player. I know I'm still young, I'll be only 24 when I end that deal but that is definitely the idea.
"I don't see myself in any other jersey, probably except for a [NSW] Blues one in a couple of years.
"But for me to do that, we got to play some finals, we got to win some games and help this club get back to where it needs to be."
St George Illawarra sit in eighth spot heading into their clash against the Sea Eagles at Brookvale next Sunday.
Should they beat Manly and record a third win on the trot, it will be the first time the Dragons have done so since September 3, 2022.
"I do see us playing finals footy, but then again, we got to be realistic with ourselves. We can't have halves like we had against the Doggies or against Penrith," Sloan said.
"Even in the first half tonight, we can't do that to ourselves, there's going to be teams there where we won't be able to get the games back.
"The last few weeks we've sort of learned a lot about ourselves where we haven't played well for two halves. Tonight was a massive win, we responded at halftime but sometimes we're just dumb when we put ourselves in positions where we don't need to be.
"The short term goal is to get some wins now and the long term goal is to make the eight."