When Jed Reardon was named on the six-man interchange bench for Thursday night’s match against the Melbourne Storm, the Bulldogs rookie wasn’t expecting to take the field.
While many debutants have an entire week to prepare for their maiden match, the young forward was only told at the 55th-minute mark that he would soon run out onto the field in front of more than 14,000 fans to make his long-awaited debut.
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Ten minutes later and with the game on the line, Reardon was injected into the contest against one of the competition’s toughest forward packs in the Melbourne Storm.
Helping the Bulldogs close out the victory, he had four runs for 28 metres, eight tackles and was involved in the lead-up to the final try of the match, putting the icing on the victory.
“It’s nervous as but we’ve got such a good bunch of boys that they all gave me confidence to believe in me on what I can do and they all got around me,” Reardon told foxsports.com.au after making his NRL debut.
“I didn’t really know until probably 25 minutes to go in the game. I was just on the bench and a few things sort of went the right way and I got the opportunity.
“I’ve been playing footy since I was four years old, so it’s been a dream ever since then.
“My old man played for the Bulldogs so it just makes it a little more special to debut for such a great club and to follow in his footsteps.”
Jed Reardon and his father Steve Reardon. (Photo: NRL Imagery)Source: FOX SPORTS
The latest player from Temora to play in the NRL – following in the footsteps of Angus Crichton, Liam Martin and Zac Lomax – Reardon’s entire family were in attendance despite the short notice.
This included his grandparents, mother Lisa, his two older siblings, Billy and Matilda, younger brother Darcy (who is involved in the Canberra Raiders pathways), father Steve and his partner and her family.
“My family drove up about five hours from Temora, so they were all here,” Reardon added.
“They all came down, which makes it ever more special. Coming from a small town (Mum and Dad) always used to drive me to and from training when I was at Canberra.
“They’d drive three hours to Canberra, three hours back from Canberra, three days a week just so I could train.
“I can’t thank them enough. I’m super grateful for the family that I have and I’m so grateful that they were able to come down this weekend and watch it all.”
Jed Reardon on debut against the Melbourne Storm. (Photo: NRL Imagery)Source: FOX SPORTS
Starting his junior career at the Canberra Raiders, Reardon made the switch to the Bulldogs in 2023 and has a close relationship with the club with his father played in over 160 matches for them between 1991 and 2003.
“I was pretty young back then but it’s something I always wanted to do with my old man playing (for the Bulldogs),” the young Reardon said on the change of teams.
“I wanted to follow in his footsteps and try and leave a bit of legacy as well at the club and obviously got that opportunity and took it with both hands.
“I’m super grateful that they’ve got belief in me.”
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Playing his first NRL match on Thursday night, Reardon’s focus in now on continuing to play consistent football week in, week out and hopefully gain more reps in the NRL arena.
“I’m still only pretty young, so that’s the ultimate goal to just play as much footy and stay consistent,” he continued.
“But I want to be playing first grade and that’s what I’m going to strive towards in the future so fingers crossed.”