The St George Illawarra Dragons will have a player in the NRL All Stars clash after all, with Tyrell Sloan the latest inclusion to the Indigenous squad.
The young fullback was a breakout star for the Red V at the end of the 2021 season and has since been promoted from a development contract to a top 30 spot.
Most Dragons fans have called for his inclusion as the permanent number one in 2022 as the club replace the departed Matt Dufty, with Sloan set to play in a spine also featuring at least one of the teammates he won the SG Ball Cup premiership alongside in 2019, either Jayden Sullivan or Talatau Amone, with the other likely to come from the bench.
Tyrell Sloan has been called into Indigenous camp for his #NRLAllStars debut 👏 pic.twitter.com/Bd3Bjso3b1
— NRL (@NRL) February 8, 2022
Sloan is touted as one of the best young prospects in the game and his inclusion in the Indigenous squad, while likely to provide cover rather than a starting spot, could turn into one should more problems strike Laurie Daley's camp.
At this stage, it's unclear who Sloan has replaced from the original squad, which included all of Alex Johnson, Josh Addo-Carr, Selwyn Cobbo and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow as potential options to play on the wing.
The game is to be played on Saturday evening at Parramatta's CommBank Stadium, with kick-off in the men's clash set down for 8:10pm (AEDT). It is the first time the match is being held in the Sydney area, having previously been held on the Gold Coast, in Townsville, Melbourne and Newcastle.
