How Reagan Campbell-Gillard got over NSW Origin snub and on with his job for Eels

Once he was dropped for Origin II, having started in a game one defeat, Campbell-Gillard says he didn’t give rep honours a second thought.

“I moved on. I didn’t get picked for game two, so I moved on,” Campbell-Gillard told CODE Sports after Friday’s 34-10 win over the Panthers at Commbank Stadium.

Rumours of a falling out with former Panthers teammates swirled around RCG’s non-selection in game three.

Blues coach Brad Fittler downplayed that talk yet selected Jordan McLean to replace Payne Haas and make his Origin debut alongside props Junior Paulo and Jake Trbojevic. When McLean was ruled out with injury just days before the decider, most pundits assumed Campbell-Gillard would get a recall.

Instead, Fittler played another wildcard, with Knights prop Jacob Saifiti named on the bench.

RCG, in good form since the game one defeat, is blunt when asked if he was surprised at not getting a recall.

“Nah, don’t care. Don’t care. I didn’t get picked for game two, so I wasn’t expecting to get picked for game three,” he says.

“I’ve always been fully committed to my team and making sure I’m doing my part for my team. If I get picked in rep football, then I’ll take that as a bonus to make sure I can do a job there.

“But that’s football. You don’t get picked, someone else is in a better position to do the job there and that’s it. Simple.”

Fittler said Campbell-Gillard plays a style of football that ”doesn’t suit the way we want to play”.

It’s working out alright for Parramatta, though.

Friday’s win was RCG’s second victory over his former club this year.

Not that playing against his old team serves as extra motivation.

“It’s my ex-club and I’ve still got some close mates there, but I’ve been here for three seasons now,” he says.

“I wouldn’t say it’s motivation or anything to get a win over the old club. I’m a Parramatta Eel now, so getting a win against them is no motivation or anything.”

Despite recording a big win over the competition’s benchmark team, there were glimpses of the inconsistency that has plagued Parramatta all year.

With the help of Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary being sent off, Brad Arthur’s side went out to a 30-4 half-time lead but couldn’t score again until two minutes before full-time.

It mirrored their form throughout the rest of the season, with wins over Penrith and Melbourne offset by shock defeats to the Tigers and Bulldogs.

“We’re sick of talking about it and I think everyone outside of our four walls is sick of talking about it,” Campbell-Gillard says of the side’s inconsistency.

“If we stick to a game plan, it’s very simple. It’s a very simple game.

“When you look at those games (we lost), we’ve tried to go around them, not through them.

“If you look at tonight (Friday), our game plan, and what we’ve done with Penrith before, you have to play direct in that middle third.

“Unfortunately they had 12 players. It would’ve been nice to have 13 to test ourselves to see where we’re at.

“But a win’s a win, you’ve gotta take ’em. Two points are pretty vital at this point of the season.

“If we just stick to our game plan, it’s a very simple game. That’s the frustrating part of our game.”

What the win over Penrith will do, RCG says, is provide a boost as the Eels head into the final five rounds of the season.

Parramatta sit sixth on the ladder, equal on points with fourth-placed Melbourne and four ahead of the eighth-placed Roosters.

The Eels play Manly this Friday, before clashes with the Rabbitohs, Bulldogs, Broncos and Storm.

“It’s probably the kick-start we needed to get our season back on track,” Campbell-Gillard says.

“Not that it’s derailed but it’s a confidence boost for our back end of the season, but we make it hard on ourselves.

“They’ve been the benchmark of football for the last three years, so pretty excited, but it’s still only a win.

“We’ve gotta make sure we can be a bit more consistent towards the back end of the season.”