{"id":149661,"date":"2021-10-25T07:44:24","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T07:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=149661"},"modified":"2021-10-25T18:59:54","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T18:59:54","slug":"fallen-nrl-star-eyeing-unlikely-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=149661","title":{"rendered":"Fallen NRL star eyeing unlikely comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Newcastle Knights<\/a> playmaker Jarrod Mullen says he's confident his "body can hold up" if handed a second chance in the NRL.<\/p>\n

Mullen's infamous four-year ban for illegal steroid use<\/a> came to come to an end earlier this year.<\/p>\n

However, the exiled star came under further scrutiny when he was sentenced to 300 hours of community service back in 2019 for supplying cocaine.<\/p>\n

Having spent the 2021 season in the Queensland Cup with the Sunshine Coast Falcons, Mullen is free now to return to the NRL.<\/p>\n

"Obviously, it's been a long journey," Mullen told SEN.<\/p>\n

\"Jarrod<\/p>\n

"To get that final email from the [NRL] Integrity Unit to say that they've cleared me, to wish me all the best, it was very surreal.<\/p>\n

"Karyn Murphy, the head of the Integrity Unit there was good enough to ring me \u2013 she had heard about all of the good things I was doing up on the Sunshine Coast with my youth work and all of that.<\/p>\n

"For her to reach out, give me a phone call, congratulate me and all of that, it was really good."<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Parramatta signs boom rookie as heir apparent to Mitchell Moses<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Mullen said his return this season at Queensland Cup level showed him just how fast the game has become since he last played.<\/p>\n

"I think you do need a calm head out there, the game has gotten so fast," Mullen added.<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

"People need to think so fast on their feet, the young halves these days, most of them are very sort of structured I think \u2013 I'm not being critical of them \u2013 but they sort of don't play what they see and instead go with set plays.<\/p>\n

"Playing the old-school type of way and obviously the left foot kicking could be a positive to a team.<\/p>\n

"I'm sitting here trying to sell myself, but I at least think I could be a back-up for a team\u2026 I really do believe my body can hold up."<\/p>\n

Asked if he had any opportunities in the NRL lined up, the 34-year-old said; "there's been a few nibbles, nothing too big at the moment".<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Manchester United hits 'rock bottom' after humiliating loss to Liverpool<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

"I'm just going to bide my time, I'm sort of in a win-win situation.<\/p>\n

"I'm loving my time up here on the Sunshine Coast, and I can play for the Falcons.<\/p>\n

"If I'm playing good enough here, with a good pre-season, transfer windows and all of that, if I'm playing good enough a team could reach out and take me then.<\/p>\n

"I'm not putting too much pressure on it."<\/p>\n

Mullen made his NRL debut in 2005 and scored 39 tries in 211 matches for the Knights.<\/p>\n

He also represented the NSW Blues in 2007 for one match.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong> clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Newcastle Knights playmaker Jarrod Mullen says he's confident his "body can hold up" if handed a second chance in the NRL. Mullen's infamous four-year […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149661"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=149661"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149663,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149661\/revisions\/149663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=149661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=149661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=149661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}