Dragon's time in exile is over
Banished to park football just weeks ago and considered not good enough for the NSW Cup, Josh Drinkwater is set to cap a remarkable rise when he is recalled to a struggling St George Illawarra side to play Brisbane on Sunday afternoon.
Suncorp Stadium is a long way from Rex Jackson Oval, where Drinkwater was relegated to play for Helensburgh Tigers in the Illawarra Coal Cup in July. His demotion was swift after joining the Dragons from Manly this year as the first-choice back-up half to Nathan Fien and Jamie Soward to start this season.
Drinkwater played his only NRL game in round five from the bench and is expected to reprise that role with Fien set to switch from halfback to hooker when starting rake Mitch Rein is off the field. The Dragons are also expected to be boosted by the return of Michael Weyman from a
neck injury after he joined Drinkwater and the rest of the St George Illawarra squad on a plane to Brisbane on Saturday. The Dragons are likely to be without Bronson Harrison, who is battling a continuing knee injury, with Leeson Ah Mau to start on the edge.
Cameron King's season could be over, with reconstruction a possibility on his shoulder. Harrison's withdrawal plus Dan Hunt's long-term injury has forced Ben Creagh to start at prop. Although named in recent weeks in the second row, Creagh has taken his place in the middle of the field and will wear the No.10 for the first time.
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Creagh said it took time to adjust to his new role.
''Pricey [Steve Price] has asked me to step up there while we've had a few guys missing,'' Creagh said. ''I'll probably end up playing the rest of the season there but we'll see where I end up next year. It's a totally different role to playing on the edge. I have played there a little bit before, I am enjoying the change. You defend both sides of the ruck and you're making double and triple efforts all the time.''
With the side languishing near the bottom of the table, the season has been a tough initiation for Creagh as the club's skipper. Creagh said he had leant on Fien and Ben Hornby, the man he replaced as skipper, at various stages this year.
''It's been a big learning curve being captain,'' he said. ''At the start of the year, I was very much focused on the team and too worried about the team … As captain, you have to make sure you're leading the way and doing everything you can do to be setting the right example.''
Poor kid has 0 luck with injury. Now lets see how our young halves go along side one another (Drinkwater, Quinlan).
