The ‘honest toiler’ is a term synonymous with rugby league. They’re the players who were perhaps not blessed with the skills of future Immortal Johnathan Thurston but none-the-less tried their guts out and made the grade.
One player who tried both his guts and nostrils out was Mitchell Sargent.
Sargent had a roller-coaster career, enjoying some highs and a well-publicised low.
To begin our tale, we head back to 2002 where a young 23-year-old albino-esque Sargent made his debut for the Melbourne Storm.
Sargent spent two seasons with the club including one under the tutelage of Craig Bellamy, collecting a respectable 35 appearances along the way.
He shifted north, far north to Townsville, playing for the Cowboys from 2004-2006 which included coming off the bench for the club in the 2005 grand final.
A 2006 Country Origin call-up had Sargent poised for a long stay in the top grade, but suddenly, white line fever struck the blonde prop.
Unfortunately, it was less Ken Irvine and more Jordan Belfort in nature.
In 2006 Sargent tested positive for cocaine during an in-house drug test conducted by the North Queensland Cowboys. Sargent’s contract with the Cowboys was torn up, yet, bizarrely, he was not suspended by the NRL.
Not only did he not receive a suspension, but he was also allowed to play in the NRL the next season with the Newcastle Knights. The signing of Sargent would foreshadow the downfall of favourite son Andrew Johns come season’s end; the Immortal would be engulfed in the ecstasy scandal in August 2007.
Sargent began the 2008 season with a serious bout of pneumonia. The double bout of pneumonia was believed to be serious enough to have killed him, if not for a series of antibiotics over a two-week period. Surviving this latest setback, Sargent decided to broaden his horizons by heading to England.
Sargent finished his career in the English Super League with the Castleford Tigers were he played 61 for the club, retiring at the conclusion of the 2010 season.
With an otherwise solid career tarnished through the cocaine scandal, Sargent helped to redeemed himself when he turned out for Aberdeen’s All For Alex invitational team, a squad consisting of former NRL players to raise funds for the injured Alex McKinnon.
In a complete reversal, Sargent is now believed to be working as an NRL Game Development Officer in country Queensland.
Knight Vision
Guest
"They’re the players who were perhaps not blessed with the skills of future Immortal Johnathan Thurston " You lost me after this. This gathers momentum from media hype. The guy is a great player no doubt but a future immortal ? gime a break. He's extremely lucky to be playing in an era with a dearth of quality halves. If they eventually induct players like Thurston into the immortals they will do nothing but diminish the standing of the award.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
The Sarge was a champion bloke, one of the best I've met in the game
Wascally Wabbit
Guest
What were his career highlights ? Did he ever win a game with a late try, or a try saving tackle ? How well did he get on with his teammates ? Surely the players you feature in your series must have had more positives in their short careers than you are telling us. Focus more on their good rather than bad.