This coming Monday night will see Josh Jackson return from State of Origin duties to play his 100th NRL game against the Sharks at ANZ Stadium. Josh is highly regarded by his Bulldogs teammates as one of the hardest working players in the side and they couldn’t be happier for him.
Teammate Michael Lichaa is looking forward to taking on his former club and will be glad to have Josh back.
“He’s an awesome player, the way he sprints out of the line and puts pressure on the other team is massive and we definitely missed that last weekend,” Lichaa said
Although still relatively new to the Bulldogs, Raymond Faitala-Mariner has settled into his position at the club quite quickly with the help of Josh.
“He grabbed me a few weeks ago before my debut and took me to the side and we went through all the plays as a second rower and my job as a back rower,” said Raymond.
Raymond believes that Josh is one of the top back rowers in the NRL this year and was unable to pinpoint Josh’s best quality as a player.
“He’s an all-rounder, he knows how to ball play, defensively he’s strong, I think he’s just an all-round awesome player.”
Senior player Aiden Tolman has been there from the beginning and has watched Josh develop into the player he is today.
“I remember when Jacko came in, it was 2012 and he’s held his position ever since,” Aiden said.
Aiden admires Josh’s passion for the game and believes his representative career that has bloomed over the past couple of years is a true testament to Josh’s hard work.
“He’s a great player and obviously it shows, he’s played for his country and he’s played for his state. You know he’s going to put his heart and soul into everything he does and that’s why I love playing with him and that’s why everyone here loves playing with him.
“He goes out there, takes the tough carries, does all of the hard work, does all the things no one notices apart from what we do in here, that’s the type of footy player I like playing with and I know all of the boys here really appreciate and admire what he does week in week out.”
Aiden is confident that Josh will have a long and prosperous career in the NRL and is stoked for his teammate to join the 100 club, he’s a tremendous player and he’s only fairly young so I’m sure he’s got a few more games ahead of him yet but the 100th milestone is a great achievement.”
