Return of the Ingebrigtsens a surprise unto themselves
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The farewells were all said and done.
Craig ‘Trigger’ Ingebrigtsen was heading north to Sarina and son Tye Ingebrigtsen eyeing new opportunities – but here they were again beyond the dead ball line at Frank Lind Oval last Saturday, sending a shudder through the BRL.
The return didn’t start they way they planned either, as a new-look West Brisbane Panthers went down to Bulimba 18-6, but the drive to find success is still the same.
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And they couldn’t be prouder to be back side-by-side in the red and black.
Craig was full of praise for Sarina for their understanding of his situation having done some groundwork with the club in preparation for the 2023 season, but it wasn’t until Tye committed that he considered coaching again.
“I’ve got a business where we look after underprivileged children who don’t have housing, so I couldn’t fulfil my agreement to go to Sarina as the business just exploded,” he said.
“Obviously so many young people out there who need help and I thought that should come first.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life and I wanted to give back to that next generation. Some of these kids have gone off track and our job is to get them back and track and help them in their life and I’m really enjoying it.
“And then when Tye decided to coach, he said ‘let’s go around and do it again’. It worked out really good to be honest.”
Having only started recruiting in November to fill the abyss left by players retiring and others earning Hostplus Cup deals, there’s plenty to do to get the side humming, and Craig admits he questioned himself early on.
“To be honest when I first came back, I did, I actually had that feeling of ‘what am I doing back here?’,” he said.
“But when we started getting into it, it was great and everyone has been welcoming and it’s really good to be back and the players especially, they’re a good group.
“We’re just looking to be the best we can be. They all talk about ‘back-to-back’ at different organisations but at the end of the day we’ve got a lot of work to do to get anywhere near that.”
