Dyldam Parramatta Eels forward Darcy Lussick says he's eager to use his call-up to the City Origin team as a boost heading into the Eels' Round 9 Johnny Mannah Cup clash against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
It was Lussick's first selection for a representative team and he was able to join Parramatta teammate, Will Hopoate, in the City camp following his late inclusion.
“[It’s my] first rep jumper at senior level, so it’s always good to get a jumper – I was sort of called up late so it was a good experience and hopefully it is not the last one,” Darcy said.
“I take a bit of confidence out of it and hopefully I can put in a few good performances for Parra now.”
Darcy was thrilled to be a part of the annual City vs. Country fixture, despite having a shaky start to the season following a stint on the sidelines through suspension.
“All the players want to be involved in it, you sort of don’t realise that there is a lot of passion in the Country, you don’t realise until you’re actually a part of it,” he said.
“Personally its been a bit of a disrupted start to the season for me and I would like to just go out there and put in a good performance on Monday.”
The Eels will be looking to retain their undefeated home record as well as the Johnny Mannah Cup on Monday night, but Darcy says they need to be aware of the last-placed Sharks.
“We need to get back in the winner’s circle, the Sharks are pretty desperate at the moment so we’re definitely not taking them lightly but we need to get our season back on track this week,” Lussick said.
“We just need to get a bit of consistency, it’s always nice to string a few wins together so hopefully we can start this week.”
Following two consecutive losses to the Tigers and the Cowboys, Lussick says the representative break has given the Eels the opportunity to refocus on their season.
“The bye came at a pretty good time for us, we were up there [on the ladder] for a fair few weeks, and had two losses just before the bye, so it was good to get the week off to regroup and freshen up for this week.”
