Dragons HPU v St. Helens Academy (Photo : steve montgomery / OurFootyMedia)

Dragons HPU v St. Helens Academy (Photo : steve montgomery / OurFootyMedia)

Dragons High Performance Unit v St. Helens Academy (Photo : steve montgomery / OurFootyMedia)

The Dragons High Performance Unit season drew to a close on Sunday with a convincing 60-14 victory over St Helens Academy from England at WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah.

The match followed the Kangaroos final training session on home soil and the Junior Kangaroos thrilling 38-26 Test match win over the Junior Kiwis.

The Dragons and St Helens development match consisted of three 20-minute stints with the drinks break a welcomed relief to all players as the temperatures reached the mid-30’s with no sign of shade until the final minutes of the match.

The Dragons used 26 players aged between 15 and 18 from a variety of local clubs in the St George and Illawarra districts.

This was the first game that the HPU Squad has played and NYC Co-Coach for 2014, Ben Hornby was impressed with what he saw from the squad.

“It has been a long season for these boys, they have trained really well twice a week since they finished their Junior Representative Football back in May and it was pleasing to see them put into practice much of what we have worked on over the past months,” said Hornby.

“It was pretty tough conditions out there and the spirit in which our guys and the boys from St Helens played was fantastic, it was a great opportunity for both teams and Clubs.

Dragons Head HPU Coach Ben Haran echoed the sentiments of Hornby.

“We have worked really hard with the management at St Helens to put this game together and it was a huge opportunity for us to come together today and it was a great display of football from both teams,” said Haran.

“We are two famous Clubs with a special bond and link in the Red V as well as Nathan Brown, a former Dragons player and Coach who is now the Head Coach at St Helens”.

“It was a great opportunity and something that we can hopefully continue in the years ahead,” added Haran.

The St Helens Academy from England are currently on a three-week development tour in Australia with a group of 27 players and 10 staff where they will train and play a further three games on their tour as well as take in some of the sights Sydney and the surrounding districts have to offer.

Dragons HPU Squad
Matt Dufty (Penshurst); Rowland Kotabalavu (Earlwood); Delane Cherrington (Kingsgrove); Lachlan Stein (Thirroul); Will Tom (Wests Wollongong); Rhys Davies (Kingsgrove); Jack Kavanagh (Corrimal); Ryan Fletcher (Arncliffe); Kelepi Lovodua (Hurstville); Luciano Leilua (Hurstville); Siaopo Tagaloa (Kingsgrove); Dylan Lauri (Wests Wollongong); Jacob Host (Renown); Hame Sele (Kingsgrove); Blake Lawrie (Shellharbour); Jye Dunning (Thirroul); Ben Cassel (Kingsgrove); Izaac Thompson (Kingsgrove); Joe Lovodua (Hurstville); Bronson Hoani (Corrimal); Netane Vi (Kingsgrove); Topiese Taufa (Hurstville); Heheako Tuima (Earlwood); Abe Attallah (Shellharbour)
Matt Jurd (Shellharbour); Tom Freebairn (Dapto); Blaine Rozs (Berry).

SAINTS Academy played the first game of their Australian Tour when they took on St George-Illawarra today.

The match was split into three age groups with each playing thirty minutes apiece.

Game One saw the oldest age group edged 16-0 with the Second, a mix of the 16s and 17s, losing 20-10.

Liam Forsyth and Jake Spedding scored the tries with Danny Richardson tagging on a conversion.

And Game Three, saw the younger aged players on the Tour lose 24-4 with Dave Hewitt adding the try.

St George fielded very strong sides as for the first time they brought together the best of St George and Illawarra together as one team.

Normally, the club does this at Under 20s only.

But the coaching staff are pleased with the players' effort in temperatures of 30 plus and they will gain from that experience.

We'll have match reaction and further details shortly.