Dragons ready for Wigan in Challenge
BY MICHAEL CARAYANNIS
01 Feb, 2011 04:00 AM
ST GEORGE Illawarra plan to ambush Wigan heading into their World Club Challenge match with the bulk of the squad fit and firing in preparation for the world championship match.
Wayne Bennetts right-hand man Steve Price revealed that the Dragons mentor would take a trimmed squad for the match on Monday, February 28.
The coach is talking about taking 18 players to England, Price said. That will be determined over the upcoming weeks.
Meantime, Price will take charge of the Dragons in the annual Charity Shield match against South Sydney on Sunday, February 13, with Bennett coaching the NRL All-Stars side the previous day.
Only boom youngster Kyle Stanley is likely to miss the first month of the season after recovering from a shoulder reconstruction.
Weve got a full squad of players at the moment except for Kyle, Price said. Michael Weyman is back from groin surgery and Dan Hunt from his Achilles heel. Everything is going really well and everyone is healthy.
The premiers face an uphill battle following the World Club Challenge with the NRL season just two weeks later.
The structure of our preseason has not changed, Price said. The conditions will be a lot different when we get over to England . Price nominated Hunt, Michael Greenfield and new recruits Adam Cuthbertson, Daniel Penese and David Gower as potential replacements for representative players Neville Costigan and Jeremy Smith who have left the club.
