NRL: Warriors place a Brett

Brett Seymour believes the Warriors are a perfect fit for him. Photo / Doug Sherring

He was once hailed as the "new Allan Langer". Now he'd be happy just to be known as the new Brett Seymour.

Seymour, the Warriors' major signing for the 2010 season, realises he will be known as "Brett Seymour: the drunken rugby league player already sacked by two clubs".

For a time, Seymour wasn't sure he would ever be one again. He was released by the Sharks for repeated drinking offences and faced up to the scary proposition he might not play NRL again.

The Warriors have taken a risk in signing the 24-year-old up for next season, with the option of another season in 2011.

There are some who believe a leopard can't change his spots; that Seymour won't be able to refrain from binge drinking. But the club are backing themselves that this big cat will sip only milk.

Seymour had his contract with Brisbane torn up in 2006 after his third drinking indiscretion before suffering the same fate with Cronulla in July. Seymour says : "Going out and drinking and abusing alcohol is not a good look. I won't be putting myself in any position to do that again, because it takes its toll." The Warriors believe they can help turn Seymour's life around. "We had a look at his history and a couple of things that guided us was that the sorts of incidents weren't thuggery or criminal," Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah says.

"He's had some issues and they need to be addressed but ultimately what convinced us was meeting him and his fiancée and we felt they were good people. We know it's a risk but there is every chance he will succeed and we have a fairly stringent contract in place with him."

Abstinence is the only way for Seymour to achieve his goals. He has a history of alcoholism in his family but has started work with a counsellor in an effort to break the cycle. He has also addressed his new team-mates to ask for their help to keep him off the drink.

"It's not easy," Seymour admits of abstinence. "But it's something you have to hold your life to. It's just not a part of my life any more whereas in Sydney it played a big part. After a game, it would be straight on the drink or the next day if we had a recovery session.

"Here it's a lot more family-orientated. There are a few boys who don't drink and it's a lot easier to be part of the team and culture.

"[My new team-mates] are fully aware of my position. I'm going to need help at certain stages through the year. But I'm at an age where I should be setting an example for these younger guys."

Seymour was extremely young when he got his first break. Hailing from the Queensland town of Mackay, he was signed to the Broncos straight from high school and made his first-grade debut as a 17-year-old.

Immediately he was touted as the "next Allan Langer", which was both the best and worst thing that could have happened to him.

"It was all a bit surreal at that time because it was a lot to take in," he says. "Although you don't want to listen to those sorts of things, it's hard not to. But it an expectation you are never going to meet - and at that stage I couldn't handle it."

When he was cut by the Broncos in 2006, he took it badly but he was soon picked up by the Sharks and moved to Sydney. Immediately, though, things changed. Instead of playing under Stu Raper who was sacked after a 10-game losing streak in 2006, Ricky Stuart was head coach and Seymour didn't figure in Stuart's plans.

He has amassed only 101 NRL games in an eight-year career when, if things had been going well, he might have played almost double that.

Seymour had plenty of time to think about his career after being released by the Sharks, especially as he worked as a labourer for a bricklayer.

"I had major doubts [that anyone would sign me again]," he admits, "and I often sat at home thinking, 'have I blown it, am I going to be one of those ones who fall away?'

"I was stewing over what I would do because there was about a month when I didn't hear anything and I thought I was going to be back out on a shovel or out in the mines.

"Then the Warriors came with a proposal. The money wasn't even a consideration, I just wanted an opportunity. I didn't want to leave the NRL on those terms and feel like I have a bit more to give before I finish.

"I was very grateful to get the opportunity to come here and start from scratch. From the first time I met with the club, I knew this is where I want to be. I think it's a perfect fit for me."

It might take time for fans to warm to him completely. But in the end all they will care about is whether he can play and whether the Warriors win more games than they lose in 2010. If Seymour is a success, he will soon be known as Brett Seymour, Warriors five-eighth.

"It takes time to heal things," he says. "I don't expect people to jump on my bandwagon straight away. I have to prove my point to the fans and club and players here that I still have some worth. I won't let any of them down."