Hey Dragons fans, put your Zac Lomax voodoo dolls down for a minute and check out his team of St George-Illawarra one-game wonders.
How many do you remember?
1. Paul Turner (2023)
There was a lot to like about Turner, but with Tyrell Sloan, the Dragons already had a fullback who was largely clueless in defence. After joining the Dragons from the Titans in 2023 and playing just one game in the top grade, he moved to the UK to continue his career with Featherstone Rovers.
2. Yaw Kiti Glymin (2015)
Glymin was both quick and elusive and came right through the Dragons’ junior system to play his sole first-grade game in 2015. He left the club a couple of years later after struggling with ongoing injuries.
3. Andrew Frew (2004)
Frew had scored over 50 tries in some 110 games, both here and overseas, before he joined the Big Red V in 2004, and he scored another try in his only game for the Dragons that year. A noted speedster on the field, Frew was unfortunately slow between the ears and failed to avoid the long arm of the law after he retired, being convicted and jailed for blackmail.
4. Denan Kemp (2012)
Yes, that “Denan Kemp” with the podcast and his own beer brand. Kemp looked like a world beater when he debuted for Brisbane back in 2007, scoring 20 tries in 28 games across the 2007 and 2008 seasons, but he was fairly ineffective by the time he joined the Dragons in 2012, where his only top-grade match was in the Dragons’ 2012 Charity Shield match.
5. Jonathan Reuben (2022)
Reuben was absolutely killing it in the Queensland Intrust Super Cup, scoring tries for fun and proving almost impossible to contain, when he came to the Dragons in 2022. Unfortunately, he only got the one NRL opportunity though, as a late call-up for the Dragons in their round 17 loss to the Cowboys. He returned to the Hostplus Cup in QLD in 2023 and scored 27 tries from as many games across the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
6. Ben Jeffries (2001)
Ben Jeffries was some player, just ask anyone in the UK where he spent most of his career, notching nearly 260 games between 2002 and 2012. Of course, everyone has to start somewhere, and for Jeffries that was with the Dragons in 2001 where he made his NRL debut before moving to the Tigers mid-season.
7. Lachlan Russell (2004)
The Dragons had some outstanding halves in 2004 (insert sarcasm emoji here) including the likes of Brett Firman, Matthew Head, Dean Byrne and Keiran Kerr, and it was a surprise to everyone, presumably even the coach, when the young Queenslander Russell was given a run in the top grade for a game.
8. Eddie Blacker (2020)
At nearly two metres tall and around 120kgs, Blacker was almost big enough to have his own postcode. He joined the Dragons from the BRL in 2019 and made his debut for the club the following year in their round 20 victory over Manly. Despite his early promise, the Dragons then inexplicably swapped him with Penrith for Billy Burns. That’s right, I said Billy Burns.
9. Josh Cook (2023)
After knocking around in the lower grades at various clubs for a number of years, Cook joined the Dragons in 2023 where the closest he got to a first-grade career was a single game in the 2023 Pre-Season Challenge. He must go alright though, as he’s played three games for Ireland, and who will ever forget his performance for the Wolfhounds in their 48-2 victory over Jamaica at Headingly in 2022?
10. Luke Page (2015)
The Luke Page story is one of the reasons why I love rugby league. Born and raised in QLD, he played just a single game of first grade in his career and yet has played 11 tests for PNG, and nobody seems to find anything wrong with that. His one and only NRL game was off the bench for the Dragons in July 2015.
11. Nathan Long (2004)
Nathan Long was a very good forward and had put together a solid career for the Sharks between 1994 and 2001, but he was well past his use by date when he joined the Dragons in 2004. He played just one game in the 2004 season before giving the game away.
12. Peter Ellis (2003)
Now here’s an interesting career, four games in the top grade but never more than one per season. Ellis played three games for the Roosters, one each in 1997, 1998 and 1999, and then his final first-grade game for the Dragons in 2003.
13. Mitchell Allgood (2019)
A player who knew how to throw them and who’d rather have a fight than a feed, Allgood had played over 100 games at the top level both here and in the UK by the time he joined the Dragons in 2019. He only managed one NRL game though, then returned to the UK in 2020.
So Dragons fans, how many of these one-gamers did you recognise?
Tonyhttps://https://ift.tt/fjhDT6S wonders: From prolific try-scorers to heavyweights and even fighters, the Dragons who never got a second game
إرسال تعليق