‘It is pretty cutthroat’: Corey Allan thanks the Dragons for supporting him after injury heartbreak

Rugby league can be a cutthroat sport at times, which is why Corey Allan is eternally grateful to the Dragons after they re-signed him last year while he was recovering from a serious knee injury.

After stints with the Rabbitohs, Bulldogs and Roosters, the one-time Origin player signed with the Dragons at the end of 2023 but was in hospital a month later after he tore his ACL at training.

Allan, 27, struggled as he pondered if this was the end of his footy journey, but those concerns were put to bed the following month when Dragons coach Shane Flanagan told him the club would stand by him with a new deal.

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“It is pretty cutthroat, so when he told me that he was going to keep me and look after me, it made a whole difference,” Allan said.

“I went pretty negative pretty quickly (after the injury) thinking about what I was going to do and that nobody was going to sign me.

“It actually gave me time to really focus on my rehab knowing that I’d be here this year, so I knew if I worked hard then there was a good chance I could prove myself again in the NRL.

“If they’d told me that they weren’t signing me, then I’d probably be looking for work and I wouldn’t be focusing on my rehab.

“For everyone to show faith in me, it meant the world to me. It means so much to me that I just want to put my best foot forward.”

It was still a long journey back to the NRL for the versatile outside back who spent months in the rehab group trying to get back to full health.

Allan made a triumphant return via the NSW Cup, where he scored a try in round 1 this year, and after almost 600 days out of the game, the journey was complete when he was told he’d be playing on the wing at Magic Round.

“I didn’t expect to debut on the weekend. I thought it was going to still be a few weeks away because we had a chat at the start of the year and he (coach Shane Flanagan) told me that he wanted me to get 10 games under my belt,” Allan said.

“I was just getting through Cup and trying to play my best footy and test the knee out, but then he told me (that I’d be playing NRL) and I was like ‘oh OK, now it’s time to get the mind ready for NRL’.

“After the game, my parents, friends and family were there and they said how proud they were.”

There was no fairytale finish, as the Dragons went down to the Wests Tigers, but Allan was more than solid in his first game back and produced a stunning tackle to deny a certain try.

“It was a pretty special feeling,” he said.

“It was 500-and-something days since my last NRL game. It was a journey and it was tough to get back with the rehab.

“Just going from surgery to running was a tough battle, so I was really grateful to get out there on the weekend and get through the game.”