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Jayden Sullivan, if he gets his father\u2019s consent, may play his first game for Wests Tigers with a new name.<\/p>\n
Known to family and friends as \u201cBud\u201d, that\u2019s how he wants to be addressed from now on.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone in my family calls me Bud and then Jayden if I\u2019m in trouble,\u201d he grinned. \u201cJayden is all right but I always ask the commentators to call me Bud. Personally, I like the name Bud, I want to actually change it to Bud.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whatever name you call him, Sullivan is ready to call the shots at the Tigers. At just 22 years of age, and with only 27 NRL appearances, Tigers coach Benji Marshall wants to hand the former Dragons playmaker the keys to the team from his first day of preseason training on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cBenji just pretty much told me straight up, he just wants me to come and own the team and make my mark,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cI feel like that\u2019s when I\u2019ll play my best footy, when I have ownership and a bigger responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Responsibility is something Sullivan knows a bit about. One of nine siblings, he left school in year eight to work as a scaffolder alongside his father, Jason. The money was good, but those early starts and long hours are a timely reminder of just how good he has it now as a professional footballer.<\/p>\n
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Jayden \u201cBud\u201d Sullivan is ready to become the main man at the Tigers.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Edwina Pickles \/ Sydney Morning Herald<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cI just felt like school wasn\u2019t for me,\u201d he said. \u201cI was a scaffolder, I was waking up at four in the morning going to work, finishing at like three or four in the afternoon and then going to training with SG Ball and Harold Matts.<\/p>\n \u201cI just felt like I didn\u2019t want to work any more, so I was telling Dad I want to take footy seriously. I didn\u2019t want to work 13-, 14-hour days as a 14-,15- or 16-year-old kid. It\u2019s tough, it\u2019s definitely not the life for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Wests Tigers recruit Jayden Sullivan honoured his father, Jason, with a tattoo on his leg.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Adrian Proszenko<\/cite><\/p>\n The Dragons granted Sullivan a release from his contract to take up a four-year contract with the Tigers. The deal was sealed during a not-so-secret meeting at the club\u2019s Concord base in July, which will likely result in the Western Suburbs Red Devils junior partnering with veteran half Aidan Sezer next season.<\/p>\n The move will shift him away from his family in Port Kembla, but he brings with him a constant reminder of the most influential person in life. Tattooed on his leg is a portrait of his father, whom he has played alongside during Koori knockout tournaments.<\/p>\n \u201cI actually lied to my dad about that tattoo,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cI said I was at the beach, when it was pouring down rain. He was like, \u2018Where are you?\u2019 He kept calling me all day. And I was telling him, \u2018I\u2019ll be home soon\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI was lying to him and then I was sitting there getting tattooed, getting absolutely demolished. I ended up coming home and my sister was behind me and she was recording and he was about to yell at me because I was lying to him all day.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve only seen my dad cry out like a handful of times. It was a pretty special moment.\u201d<\/p>\n Sullivan\u2019s closest friends are Dragons youngsters Tyrell Sloan and Talatau Amone. It\u2019s unclear when Amone will next play after he was last month found guilty of a hammer attack on a roofing contractor.<\/p>\n Jayden Sullivan in action for the Dragons.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>NRL Photos<\/cite><\/p>\n The trio were inseparable coming through the grades and vowed not to drink alcohol, a commitment kept until Sullivan drank a pink of Vodka Cruiser on the Mad Monday that fell just a week before his 21st birthday last year.<\/p>\n \u201cI set a goal a couple of days ago that I won\u2019t drink until Mad Monday comes around again,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cThat\u2019s just because I wanna focus on footy and put all my eggs in one basket and go hard.\u201d<\/p>\n At some point next year, he will face his old club and his long-time friends.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope it\u2019s at WIN Stadium,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cI hope Sloaney tries to run because I\u2019m going to try to tackle him so hard, we were joking about it the other day. Remember the Morris twins [Brett and Josh Morris] when they pretended they were in a fight? We will do that, but I reckon he will actually hit me. It\u2019s all love. Off the field we\u2019re best mates again.\u201d<\/p>\n After consecutive wooden spoons, little is expected of the Tigers in 2024. They will commence their preseason with a rookie coach and a new halves combination at a time when a club review could result in a radical shake-up of the board and management. However, Sullivan isn\u2019t daunted.<\/p>\n \u201cI like a challenge. Not everything in life is easy,\u201d he said. \u201cComing into this season we\u2019re starting behind the eight-ball, but we\u2019ve got no expectations. The only thing we gotta prove is to ourselves and where we want to take it. That\u2019s the most exciting thing, we\u2019re gonna create our own legacy. We don\u2019t have to live up to anyone else\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n Sports news, results and expert commentary.<\/i><\/b> Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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