NO-ONE can accuse Elliott Whitehead of not putting in the miles as he looks to finish what he started – taking the Super League title to Catalans Dragons.
The 9,000 or so between him and his young daughter are the answer to that.
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Former England back rower Whitehead has returned to Perpignan following a stellar stint in the NRL with Canberra Raiders after speaking to boss Steve McNamara and owner Bernard Guasch at the last World Cup in 2022.
And he revealed the family sacrifice he has made as he lives on his own believing everything is there for the Dragons to go one better than 2022 and 2023’s Grand Final defeats.
He said before flying back Down Under to be with his child at Christmas: “My daughter lives in Australia.
“That mileage gap was something I had to think about before making the move to France and not retiring. I spoke to her mum and we’ll try to make it work.
“There are days when I struggle a bit, but Steve’s been really good in that respect. He has similar as he’s been away from his family, especially when he was in the NRL.
“So we’ve had a chat about that and he’ll help me as much as I can – and Facetime is not the same.
“I was looking forward to seeing my daughter, having that break from training and just taking my mind off rugby for a few days.
“But I made the decision to come over to France and finish my career by hopefully winning something. Super League or the Challenge Cup is the aim – that’s why I came.
“They’ve made two of the last three Grand Finals, that’s one of the main reasons I came back. We’re building something special here.
“Now the club knows what it takes to win things. We had a disappointing season last season but we’re one of the top four teams in the league now. We believe we’re building the squad to win it next year.”
Whitehead may be 35-years-old but do not think he is winding his career down in the south of France.
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In fact, he is already looking beyond 2025 as he added as he lives just two streets from where he did in his first stint from 2013 to 2015: “A few other clubs expressed an interest but I was only ever going to come back to Catalans.
“Steve gave me my debut at Bradford and with England, so we spoke about it being a good way to finish my career with him.
“But I feel that I’ve still got something to give. I signed for one year but we’ll see how my body pulls up and what happens from there.
“If there is an opportunity for another year then maybe but that’s a long way away.”
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