St George Illawarra Dragons squad for 2008 NYC

[girvie]

I found these player's names on the Action Photo Website under NYC squads. There are possibly a few others players who are also in the squad, but I thought I would post the list until the squad is officially announced.

Player/ position(s) / 2007 team
Chris Astill (wing) Illawarra SB
Jace Brown (fullback) Illawarra SB (06)
Josh Cochrane (hooker) Illawarra SB (06)
Rhys Cochrane (five-eighth) Illawarra SB (06)
Nathan Dureau (hooker) Denman
Daniel Fepuleai (hooker) St George Illawarra PL
Beau Henry (five-eighth) Illawarra SB
Gavin Hood (second row/prop) Wests Illawarra
Ben Josephs (prop) Dubbo
John Kennedy (halfback) Manly SB (06)
Jake Marketo (second row) Illawarra SB
Trent Merrin (prop) Illawarra SB
Sam Morath (wing/fullback) St George Illawarra PL
Clifford Morris (second row) Wagga South City
Matthew Mundine (lock) St George PL/SB
Luke Muttdon (second row) Illawarra SB (06)
Daniel Nicastri (centre) Illawarra SB
Michael Pickerd (centre) St George SB
Henry Raiwalui (five-eighth) St George SB
Ben Schreiber (second row/centre) St George SB
Brendan Smith (second row) St George SB
Kyle Stanley (five-eighth) St George SB
Wes Suckley (prop) Coonabarabran
Jarrod Thompson (second row) Illawarra HM
Joe Vickory (wing) Cronulla JF/SB

 

[girvie]

girvie's top 17 from those players listed:
1. Sam Morath
2. Joe Vickory
3. Daniel Nicastri
4. Michael Pickerd
5. Chris Astill
6. Beau Henry
7. John Kennedy
8. Wes Suckley
9. Daniel Fepuleai
10. Ben Josephs
11. Jake Marketo
12. Luke Muttdon
13. Matthew Mundine

14. Trent Merrin
15. Brendan Smith
16. Ben Schreiber
17. Henry Rawalui

 

[j0rd0_ShArKs]

Chris Astill is a gun played a few years in his team , he scored nearly every time he touched the ball, nice guy too

you rate him girv? havent seen he play for a couple of years

 

[Godz Illa]

Add to the list the players in the full-time squad: Rory O'Brien, Travis Roche and Dean Whare.
Apparently we've also signed Tom Hancock from the Sharks, not confirmed though.

 

[watatank]

Gavin Hood is a second rower/prop.

Where's Brad Hudson? He's a lock forward who played with the Steelers and was in Australian Schoolboys this year.

 

[girvie]

Chris Astill is a gun played a few years in his team , he scored nearly every time he touched the ball, nice guy too

you rate him girv? havent seen he play for a couple of years

To be honest i haven't seen much of him, and many of these guys because the Dragons didn't field a Flegg team this year.

Add to the list the players in the full-time squad: Rory O'Brien, Travis Roche and Dean Whare.
Apparently we've also signed Tom Hancock from the Sharks, not confirmed though.

Hancock is still young enough for SG Ball so perhaps he won't start in NYC.

Gavin Hood is a second rower/prop.

Where's Brad Hudson? He's a lock forward who played with the Steelers and was in Australian Schoolboys this year.

I guess there might be more players like Hudson who are in the squad but weren't named on the action photo website. I guess we will have to wait for the Dragons to announce the full squad.

 

[aqua_duck]

Kyle Stanley, I've heard he's every bit as good as Chase, personally haven't seen him play

 

[Taniwha]

Apparently we've also signed Tom Hancock from the Sharks, not confirmed though.

Yea man got confirmation he's with you guys through an e-mail to the Sharks.

 

[Wicks]

St George Illawarra Dragons NYC Squad 18 DECEMBER 2007

The inaugural St George Illawarra Dragons Under 20 squad for the 2008 Toyota Cup National Youth Competition is as follows.

ASTILL Chris
BOON Jacob
BROWN Jace
BROWN Rowan
CAMPBELL Sam
CARTER Robert
COCHRANE Josh
COCHRANE Rhys
DELAMONT Mark
DUREAU Nathan
FEPULEAI Daniel
GOWLAND Lachlan
HANCOCK Tom
HENRY Beau
HOOD Gavin
HUDSON Brad
JONES Tyler
JOSEPHS Ben
KENNEDY John
KENNEDY Maurice
KING Justin
LINETT Kane
MARKETO Jake
McNAMARA Keiran
MERRIN Trent
MORATH Sam
MORRIS Clifford
MUIR Mitch
MUNDINE Matthew
MUTTDON Luke
NICASTRI Daniel
O'BRIEN Rory
PICKERD Michael
RAIWALUI Henry
ROCHE Travis
SCHREIBER Benjamin
SMITH Brendan
STANLEY Kyle
SUCKLEY Wes
THOMPSON Jarrod
VICKORY Joe
WHARE Dean
WRIGHT Clint
ZWOLSMAN Jeff

http://www.dragons.com.au/index.asp?pageID=101&menuItemID=10&articleID=2906

 

[girvie]

Chris Astill (wing) Illawarra SB
Jacob Boon (second row) Albion Park
Jace Brown (fullback) Illawarra SB (06)
Rowan Brown (prop) Milton-Ulladulla
Sam Campbell (second row) Illawarra SB
Robert Carter (halfback) Illawarra SB (06)
Josh Cochrane (hooker) Illawarra SB (06)
Rhys Cochrane (five-eighth) Illawarra SB (06)
Nathan Dureau (hooker) Denman
Daniel Fepuleai (hooker) St George Illawarra PL
Lachlan Gowland (lock) Western Districts
Tom Hancock (prop) Cronulla JF/SB
Beau Henry (five-eighth) Illawarra SB
Gavin Hood (second row/prop) Wests Illawarra
Brad Hudson (lock) Illawarra SB
Tyler Jones (centre) Illawarra SB
Ben Josephs (prop) Dubbo
John Kennedy (halfback) Manly SB (06)
Maurice Kennedy (five-eighth) Manly Cove
Justin King (?) Wests Illawarra
Kane Linnett (centre) Illawarra SB
Jake Marketo (second row) Illawarra SB
Kieran McNamara (prop) Wagga Wagga
Trent Merrin (prop) Illawarra SB
Sam Morath (wing/fullback) St George Illawarra PL
Clifford Morris (second row) Wagga South City
Mitch Muir (hooker) Shellharbour
Matthew Mundine (lock) St George PL/SB
Luke Muttdon (second row) Illawarra SB (06)
Daniel Nicastri (centre) Illawarra SB
Rory O’Brien (prop) St George SB
Michael Pickerd (centre) St George SB
Henry Raiwalui (five-eighth) St George SB
Travis Roche (fullback) Illawarra SB
Benjamin Schreiber (second row/centre) St George SB
Brendan Smith (second row) St George SB
Kyle Stanley (five-eighth) St George SB
Wes Suckley (prop) Coonabarabran
Jarrod Thompson (second row) Illawarra HM
Joe Vickory (wing) Cronulla JF/SB
Dean Whare (centre) St George SB
Clint Wright (halfback) Illawarra SB
Jeff Zwolsman (wing/centre) Shellharbour/ Illawarra SB (06)

 

[girvie]

girvie's top 17:
1. Travis Roche
2. Joe Vickory
3. Dean Whare
4. Kane Linnett
5. Sam Morath
6. Beau Henry
7. John Kennedy
8. Rory O'Brien
9. Daniel Fepuleai
10. Tom Hancock
11. Matthew Mundine
12. Luke Muttdon
13. Brad Hudson

14. Trent Merrin
15. Wes Suckley
16. Jake Marketo
17. Henry Rawalui

 

[Godz Illa]

WHARE LOOKING TO TAKE SUCCESS TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Dean Whare has had plenty of success throughout his high school competitions but after completing his HSC in 2007 he is now looking for a bigger prize and looking forward to doing it with some of his best mates along side him on the field.
The 17-year-old who in fact turns 18 tomorrow (January 22) has spent the last two months training as an adult in the full-time squad and words can’t describe how much he is enjoying it.
“It’s good experience the boys are helping me a lot to get them to where they are,” he said. “To be out there with some of the best names in the game is great for me in terms of my learning.”
The New Zealand born youngster who moved to Australia when he was 11 struggled in 2007 after breaking his leg and missing the second half of the junior representative season.
“2007 wasn’t a good year, I was in and out but now I’m back in full-time training and doing everything wit the squad,” said Whare.
“I was in rehab when we first returned to training with Marcus (Rehab Co-ordinator) really working hard on getting the strength back in my leg and most of all my agility which I lost quite a bit of,” added Whare.
Although spending all his time with the NRL squad the centre is definitely looking at impressing in the new Toyota Cup competition and hopefully getting the opportunity to make an appearance in the NRL later in the year.
“I want to perform consistently in the Toyota Cup and see what happens from there. I just want to play well and hopefully get a run in the NRL,” stated Whare.

http://www.dragons.com.au/index.asp?pageID=101&menuItemID=10&articleID=2915

 

[Godz Illa]

Teen fights back from broken neck to sign with Dragons


By Nick Walshaw
January 30, 2008 12:00am

MAURICE Kennedy is trying to explain how it feels to fracture and dislocate your neck in the same split-second.
"Well, imagine landing on your neck as someone lands on you," the Dragons rookie shrugs. "And then an incredibly loud crack . . . one you can actually feel running right up the length of your back."
Put in the very simplest of terms, Kennedy is supposed to be dead. At best in a wheelchair unable to feed, paint or even speak.
Yet instead, this teenage Lazarus is now on the cusp of one of the greatest league comebacks in 100 years of the game as he prepares to take the field for St George Illawarra this year .
In three years he has undergone two operations and "what felt like forever" in a neck brace since the former Manly miracle boy was first told he would never play footy again.
Bashed so badly in an under-16 grand final, doctors feared he had severed his spinal cord and was destined for life in a metal chair . . . or worse.
"Oh yeah, I can still remember the doc telling me I'd almost died," Kennedy, now 19, recalls.
"I was taken from the field and rushed straight to Royal North Shore Hospital. Then that night the surgeons inserted screws into my head with one of those big metal halos around it.
"There were weights attached to the halo too. From memory, it was so my head would be shifted slowly back into the right spot."
Next day Kennedy also underwent a second operation - "the serious one" - where surgeons spent six hours fusing bone from his hip to the C3 and C4 vertebrae.
After that, six agonising months in a neck brace.
"But with this type of injury," Professor Lali Sekhon said at the time, "most people leave our unit in a wheelchair".
But despite his traumatic ordeal, the gutsy five-eighth never stopped believing he would play again.
It's why he appeared in The Sunday Telegraph just days after his operations talking up "a big comeback".
Why he was lifting weights within a year, hitting tackle bags within two and eventually gaining a clearance to trial with the Dragons. Exactly 1249 days and counting.
"Of course, I was never told about the tackle bags," mum Sharon laughs. "But deep down I always knew he would never give up.
"And that's why I eventually took him to the best specialist I could find, to see if he could be cleared."
And there was no hesitation?
"Oh, the professor just took one look at the scans and said it was a miracle."
Yet despite his heavenly help and newfound notoriety, Dragons fans may still struggle to pick Maurice out in 2008 - thanks largely to the fact his twin brother John is also with the Dragons under-20s.
Incredibly, the pair are one of three sets of St George Illawarra twins - joining the Morris boys and fellow under-20 pairing Josh and Rhys Cochrane.
"We've been playing alongside each other in the halves our whole lives and Johnny really inspired me to get back out there," Maurice says.
"Even watching him from the sidelines was enough to make sure I came back."
And if he had never been granted that clearance?
"Yeah, well, as twins we're always tricking people," he laughs.
"So I still had that as my very last option . . . if all else failed I planned to run out for a couple of games as John."

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23130006-5006066,00.html

 

[brendothejet]

Brendan Smith is the best player in the dragons squad...

 

[Wobbygong]

who........................?

 

[Wicks]

Billy Smiths grandson He goes ok

 

[petetheileet]

You should see those Kennedy boys play touch....

Same league as Benji

 

[W.Smith]

Billy Smiths grandson He goes ok

Related to the great one aint a bad start to have

Cant wait to see em play

Have seen a bit of Mundine at Endeavour and at 112kg he could be a juggernaut

Also have been watching Luke Muttdon for a couple years now in the Steelers Juniors and this kid is a good kid IMO

Havent seen Wes Suckley's name in either of the pre season publications I have, is he still in the squad ?

Is Jake Marketo a relo of the old Tigers prop Mike ?

 

[girvie]

Suckley is playing SG Ball for Illawarra.

 

[Fairfax]

WHARE LOOKING TO TAKE SUCCESS TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Dean Whare has had plenty of success throughout his high school competitions but after completing his HSC in 2007 he is now looking for a bigger prize and looking forward to doing it with some of his best mates along side him on the field.
The 17-year-old who in fact turns 18 tomorrow (January 22) has spent the last two months training as an adult in the full-time squad and words can’t describe how much he is enjoying it.
“It’s good experience the boys are helping me a lot to get them to where they are,” he said. “To be out there with some of the best names in the game is great for me in terms of my learning.”
The New Zealand born youngster who moved to Australia when he was 11 struggled in 2007 after breaking his leg and missing the second half of the junior representative season.
“2007 wasn’t a good year, I was in and out but now I’m back in full-time training and doing everything wit the squad,” said Whare.
“I was in rehab when we first returned to training with Marcus (Rehab Co-ordinator) really working hard on getting the strength back in my leg and most of all my agility which I lost quite a bit of,” added Whare.
Although spending all his time with the NRL squad the centre is definitely looking at impressing in the new Toyota Cup competition and hopefully getting the opportunity to make an appearance in the NRL later in the year.
“I want to perform consistently in the Toyota Cup and see what happens from there. I just want to play well and hopefully get a run in the NRL,” stated Whare.

http://www.dragons.com.au/index.asp?pageID=101&menuItemID=10&articleID=2915

Dean is a fabulous footballer who has had back luck with injuries for years. I saw him play from about thirteen and he's really a very classy footballer. He had stress fractures in his back a few years ago too. I'd love to see him go further he's always been a cut above most of the kids his age.