 IN THIS ISSUE
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Dear Subscriber,
Thank you for subscribing to the Official Newsletter of the Engadine Dragons. I hope you find informative and interesting to read.
Club Sponsors Loyalty Programs
Sunshine Real Estate - sell your house through Sunshine, mention the Dragons and the Club receives $500.
Aussie Home Loans - attend a loan enquiry meeting with Aussie and the Club receives $100.
goto http://aussie.com.au/lendahand to arrange the appointment.
Rebel Sports Stores - use your loyalty card to receive 5% discount, the Club also receives 5%. Cards are available from the canteen or Rebel quote our loyalty no. "036995".
Kelly's Bistro Engadine Tavern - have your loyalty card stamped everytime you spend $10 at the Bistro. The Club receives a percentage on all sales. Return cards to the canteen. |
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 Coming Events
Club Sportsman’s Lunch
Our major fundraiser for the year will be held on Friday 25 June at the St. Moritz room upstairs in the Engadine Tavern.
The cost will be $100 per person and will include entertainment, MC, beer, wine and two course lunch.
Starts at 12.15 and concludes around 4.30.
It is most important that the entire club supports this function as it will be the major source of income for the club and will contribute greatly to the huge cost of replacing football jumpers for next season. At the very least, we expect to have to replace half the club jumpers in 2011.
We hope to be able to return each teams support with a contribution to the end-of-season plans.
MC - Terry Kennedy
Guests - Steve 'Blocka' Roach and Mark Geyer.
Comedian.
Reunions:
1992 A Grade Premiers
1992 U/21 Undefeated Premiers
1992 U/16 Premiers
To make this day a great success can you, or someone you know, contribute sporting memorabilia and/or raffle prizes? It would be a tremendous help to the club if you could contribute or ask around and encourage others. Contributions can be made by contacting the club President – Grahame Wagener – 95204535.
Tickets are on sale now.
Golden Oldies 2010
The venue for the Golden Oldies (Como, Sutho, Engadine) is planned for Sutherland Oval around the 8th August. A number of sponsors have been locked in and more are welcome. Oldies from around NSW and inter-state have already expressed interest in attending. The plan is to have all 3 A grade teams and the 2nd grades play at the same venue – Sutho Oval. There will be exhibition matches by the clubs’ U/6’s and U/7’s – the stars of the future, the stars of the present and the waning stars of the past.
All the monies raised go to charity. The charities this year will be:
Motor neurone disease
The Cancer Council.
The Golden Oldies inter-club committee comprises:
Peter Anderson – Como
Hayden Garn – Como
Jeff Smith – Sutherland
Grahame Wagener – Engadine
Bert Fleming - Engadine
Men of League
Men of league is a charitable organisation with the aim to assist Rugby league players, coaches, referees, officials and administrators, from all levels of the game, and members of their families who have fallen on hard times. Membership is open to anyone who would like to be part of this wonderful cause. General membership is $20 and is a one off payment. See Grahame Wagener for a membership application. |
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Team Reports
6 Blue RD 2 V Gymea 36 – 14 Loss
Our 3rd game as a team and our 1st touch up. Gymea’s size and experience were always going to make this one of our harder games. To our credit our boys never gave up and saved about 50 tries being scored.
Nick Freeman: A very solid game and tackled great.
Jai Williams: In his own words “got smashed”, but still had fun.
Jet Hickson: Ran up the middle with some busting runs.
Jackson chalk: Ran to the caps and showed his speed. Man of the Match.
Rory Cartwright: Ran great angles and muscled up in defence.
Jy Garvey: Very consistent game, never gave up.
Kurt Peychers: Scored 1 Try and saved about 20.
Luke Wallace: Scored 2 Tries and kicked a goal.
6 Blue RD 4 V Menai 24 – 8 Win
Menai has some experience and size but the Mighty 6 Blues came out today ready for action. We all spread out in attack and didn’t all hang around the ruck which meant a lot less dropped ball. We also spread out in defence which made it very hard for Menai to score.
Nick Freeman: Developing some speed and ran very strong.
Jai Williams: Ran the ball in all directions with the biggest smile.
Jet Hickson: Some robust runs and is showing his strength.
Rory Cartwright: Rory’s best game so far. Tackle after tackle.
Jy Garvey: Made us many metres and kicked his 1st goal.
Chad Bonser: Ran straight into the opposition without fear.
Kurt Peychers: Kicked his 1st goal and Bagged another Hat trick.
Luke Wallace: Man of the Match with 2 Tries and smashing defence.
8A Whalers Vs Aquinas Won 44-0
This game was not as easy as we thought it might be, and I think the score reflected that. We had less chance to score and we had to do a lot more in defence.
But the great thing is we took on the challenge and played like a team. I can tell you that almost everyone was on equal numbers in the hit-ups tally, and that means you are learning to share the ball around, and you are recognizing who hasn't had a run and giving them a go. Well done boys!!
I want again to mention Jayden, who nearly had his head taken off and Steven for their efforts in defence. They are our smaller players, but they are so tough! Not afraid to get in and have a go and even team up to bring down some of the giants coming at them. I like courage in a player and you two have it!
When it comes to discipline I don't think that there is a better example than Blake. He covers his side of the field and no-one get past him. It's tough to stand your ground when you can see your mates just a few steps away trying to complete a tackle. We all need to learn to trust our team mates to do their job, so you can do yours. Great stuff mate!
Some great tries were scored out there today with Sam bagging a well deserved hat trick for all his hard work in support play - I'm sure that makes up for the lack of runs last week little buddy. Dane and Harry went over for a couple each, Dane using his elusiveness and strength around the ruck, and twinkle toes Harry with his stop start steps and great speed. Harrison also showed some of his fancy step work, and that got him a try, and Ethan got one down the sideline as well as topping the tackle count. Well done boys... Goals to Daniel, Jayden, Harry and Dane. Excellent kicking boys!
Man of the match went to Daniel who has been doing a really great job in the middle by pulling of quite a number of tackles in the last few rounds, and he is balancing that with his usual attacking charges up the sideline, leaving a tail bodies on the ground, and that has netted him a few solo tries. Well done to the big fella!
You should all be proud of your efforts because it showed out there today, and I know that Dean and Tye were very impressed... I was too :-)
8A Whalers V De La Salle Won 34-0
This round we versed a much tougher opponent and the boy's did well to keep them scoreless. But boy oh boy didn't they have to defend well to do it. For most of the game the defence was outstanding, but there were a few times when we let the opposition stand in the tackle, and a few hugs too, so boys we need to work harder at putting the man down, and on the ground. If we don't, the stronger teams will take advantage of it and make us pay.
Next weekend's game will be our first real test in the A comp, and Dean and Tye will be looking for all you boy's to step up another gear, and show the other teams in our comp, that the Engadine Dragon's are one tough bunch.
This week in attack we had Daniel again taking of for a few of his now familiar long runs, and Jayden showed us how much pace he has darting in and out of the oppositions grasp, and Steven was again showing us his offloading skills which lead to another try.
As I mentioned before, the defence was awesome. With Blake hitting and driving them over the sideline, Harrison was smashing in to them and Dane was chopping them down around the ankles, whilst Ethan, Harry and Sam were busy making mince meat out of the rest.
I have to mention Ethan for his running on to the ball. It was well executed and you made them work hard to pull you down. Imagine how awesome we will be when we all starting hitting the line at full speed!
For what it's worth we had 4 boys on almost equal counts in the tackling department and the rest not far behind, and that's great to see. The runs were also fairly equal, with the exception of Dane who only got a couple of runs but, I think all the boy's understand that it happens from time to time, specially when you have to take your turn on the bench.
So from next week I won't be keeping tabs on how many runs or tackles everyone is doing, as I think it's served it's purpose and the boys are now understanding that there is no I in "TEAM" and that they are all equal on the footy field. Instead I will try to recall the game as it unfolds, and highlight our highs and our lows.... but only if it's really needed :-)
There were tries to Sam and Daniel, whilst Harry went over for two and Ethan got the hat trick. Well done lads.
The kicking game was a bit off this week so only Sam, Harrison and Daniel manage to kick them over for a goal. I guess that's something we can work on, but still the balls are going high enough, but just a little of centre.
Man of the match went to Harrison who also celebrated his Birthday. He has been trying very hard in the tackling department, so it was a well deserved award to get on such a special day. Great stuff from the smiling assassin... (Hope you don't mind me calling you that)
9C V Aquinas won 34-0
Another week of footy and again another great win by our boys. We played Aquinas after what was supposed to be our bye with Aquinas coming down a grade from the B's and our little men put them to the sword with a 34-0 whitewash. From the opening whistle till the final siren the boys didn’t let up. Each week the boys improve another area of their game and this week it was great to see them trying to stick to the game plan as much as possible. Tyler was great as first receiver this week after only having filled in over the last 3 weeks guiding the boys and organising our play. Dylan, Paul and Hayden provided the go forward with some solid running that opened up the field for some great ball running and great open field play. The boys were stringing together 4 and 5 passes on occasions. Although its a great score line the most pleasing part for me was our defensive effort. At no stage did the other side look like scoring and if a tackle was missed there was someone else in cover ready to help out. A great team effort right across the whole team. A special mention to Hayden who had his best game so far this year and to our man of the match TJ scoring 3 tries and converting 1 of them .Keep listening and working hard boys you are doing us all proud especially me.
9C V DLS Lost 12-10
A week is certainly a long time in football. This week our boys had their first really tough hit out against De La Salle. We went down 12-10 in what was a game that we could have quite easily have won! Our first half of football was awesome. Each player putting his body on the line in defence and attack. Again our big men set the platform with plenty of hard running .But it was our defence that kept us in the game. Both little Ryan Lang and Tyler cover defending saving three certain tries by De La. We led 10-4 at half time. It was then that our game fell apart. We suffered a couple of crucial injuries to TJ and Tyler that affected our team structure. With Cam and little Ryan filling in an unfamiliar first receiver role we were a little disorganised. But to the boys credit they all hung in there and gave it their all! Samuel Gurton stepped up this week as did Luke Goodman and Tyler. One positive to take away from this week is that De La played their best and us our worst is that we can play much better! Keep improving boys this loss is only a bump in what has been a great start to the season.
12A V Cronulla Caringbah DRAW 6-6
Another titanic struggle! We were down 6-0 at halftime after having a legitimate try disallowed for a double movement. However, we held our composure and scored a late try in the second half, which Bevan converted from wide out to give us a well-deserved draw. The defence from the boys was again outstanding and every boy in the team again played well. Man of the Match was Zac Hunter who played a non stop game in both attack and defence. Jake Wheeler and James Wayland also had outstanding games with James again scoring a sensational solo try. Other award winners on the day were Ryan Levin, Dylan Lees & Bevan Gemmell. We still need to work on clearing the ball from the ruck a bit quicker to give some of our star outside backs more opportunities.
12A V Gymea Lost 12-10
This was a top quality rugby league match for 12 year olds played against a Gymea side that has been in the last 3 grand finals. We were down 6-0 midway through the first half and answered with two tries before half time to lead 10-6. The first try was a half back special when Ryan Levin took the line on from 10 metres out and strolled through which was duly converted from out wide by Ryan Longville and the second try was after a magnificent movement up field whereby we went 70 metres with players backing up to be held up just short. A couple of plays later one of our big props, James broke Gymea’s on-line defence and scored. The second half was an arm wrestle and they eventually scored a converted try to lead 12-10 and we threw everything at them but come up just short. The defence from the boys was again outstanding and I am very proud of each and every player. Man of the Match was Josh Ridge, one our big props who played a non stop game in both attack and defence and went so close to scoring the winning try a couple of times at the end of the game. Jake Wheeler and James Wayland also had outstanding games, with James winning an award. Other award winners on the day were our two wingers Kane Hopkins and Matheson Johns who had solid games.
12A v Aquinas 2 WON 46-0
The boys put on a great exhibition of football for anyone lucky enough to be down at Anzac last Saturday. The real sour point however, was when leading 40-0 with a few minutes left one of our two big props broke both bones in his left arm just above the wrist. This will be a major blow to our campaign but I know the boys will fight on. To Josh the bravery you showed when you suffered such a horrific injury is an inspiration to us all. Not a tear, one very tough kid. Man of the Match was Brad Watts who displayed his magnificent footwork out in the Centres and scored 2 classy tries. Second best on the day was his centre partner Joel Collier who also scored 2 great tries and duly received an award.
A Grade V’s Sutherland – round 4 Won – 18-10
Well, the lead up to this game had all the right ingredients for a very tough battle and this is certainly what was delivered. There was no doubting that both sides put everything on the line in an effort to gain the win and for this they should be both congratulated as it has been put to me by many who were fortunate enough to see this game “That this was one of the best games we have witnessed in some time”. This game had everything from huge hits, skilfully mastered manoeuvres and a game that could have gone either way in the end.
Engadine won the toss and elected to give Sutherland the downhill run in the first half. Sutherland made no mistake in letting us know they were here to win and it wasn’t long before they posted the first points of the afternoon. If it wasn’t for the brilliance of Stubbies playing fullback, Sutherland would have went to the half time break with a lead bigger than the 10-0 lead they so well gained and for us, it was back to the clubhouse for a re-think of what we were doing wrong and how to come back into this game in the manner we know we can play.
It’s a no-brainer that the half-time talk should be left to the where it took place but what was said certainly struck a nerve in our side seeing us come out a completely different side. From the kickoff our big guys stood up and relentlessly kept bashing the ball up setting the platform for our speedsters to perform their magic and although probably not a speedsters himself, Chris Woods went over under the post for the first of his two tries and posting our first 4 points of the afternoon. With the Hill now in full volume and the sniff of a great victory in the making our guys went into battle mode and proceeded to be relentless and unforgiving all over the paddock. We came away from this game 18-10 winners but this win wasn’t without its toll seeing a dislocated shoulder to Joel Hamill. Joel has come up from our U21’s side and we wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back in the squad ASAP.
There were many stages of brilliance today from everyone but it would be remiss of me not to pay attention to Andrew Johnston and Chris Woods for their all-round effort and how fortunate are we to have these guys playing for the Dragons. Scott Nancarrow, Nathan Harris, Nathan Bullock, Michael and Shane Newton for their massive efforts and to our new recruits Pat Carr, Tom Iacono, Matt Stubbs, Jason Beare and Rodney Moefaauo, it’s great to have you guys wearing the Dragons jersey and we look forward to seeing you guys representing the Dragons for many years to come.
Ultimately though, this victory is what playing for Engadine is all about. A TEAM of mates who enjoy each other’s company and the PRIDE of playing for the jersey they wear and the history that jersey carries.
A HUGE thanks from everyone in the A-Grade squad to our valued sponsors, The Hill Supporters and everyone who came down to support us this afternoon. As always your support was tremendous and appreciated by all.
Tries today:
X2 - Chris Woods sponsored by Gardner Hair Design Kirrawee
X1 – Nathan Harris sponsored by Adams Smash Repairs
Goals today:
X3 – Jason Beare sponsored by SUBWAY Engadine
A Reserves V Gymea LOST 13 – 12
We are getting much closer to another win. We are developing some structure and only went down by a field goal. Congratulations to “the Tank”, Dennis Marsh for his 200th game for the club and to Danny “Mr Consistency” Brubaker for his 100th game. They both played very proudly and had the full support of their team mates and coaching staff. Good tries to “Chicken Sausage” Ben Cotton and “the Panther” Vili Na’baa, who had another good game. Tommy “Westpac” Hubbard took on the long kicks well and kicked 2 goals. Ben “Lubey” Leahy with a very high work rate and Kieran “Salad Sandwich” Smith had very good games for the Dragons.
A-Grade V Menai Won 34-12
This week’s report starts off with some very exciting news and that is the arrival of William Lewis Palmer born at 11.48am on Sunday the 16th of May, weighing in at a very healthy 7 pounds 12 ounces to the very proud parents Danielle and Aaron “Fats” Palmer. Both Danielle and William are doing well and I’ve been assured it won’t be long before Aarons mum has one of her famous Dragons beanies knitted up for William. From all your mates we would just like to congratulate you both on what is a very exciting time in your life.
Both our U17’s and A-Reserves played before us and set the standard for the afternoon seeing them both notch up good wins. Congratulation guys!
Today’s game was our first away game for the season and without 5 of our starting squad players not being able to take the field due to injury and our coach in hospital for the birth of his son, it’s fair to say that this was going to be a good test for us. Menai are sitting 4th on the ladder and with the inclusion this year of a number of their U21’s players from last season, a very big forward pack and on home turf, we knew we had a game on our hands.
The score line may read as if this was a convincing win where in fact it was more like a roller coaster ride seeing us let Menai back into this game more times than what we would have liked and certainly giving our Assistant Coach moments of concern. Pat Carr got us away very early in the game with the first of his three tries for the day and it was only a few minutes later that Shane Newton decided he wanted to get in on Pats fun seeing him cross over for what would be the first of his two tries and taking us away to a 10-0 lead. With 15 min’s until half time, Menai get away with a good intercept and if not for our new found speedster in the side “James Andrew” , they would have made a great length of the field try, but in the end they had us on our back foot and crossed over not long after. Not to be outdone Andrew Johnston put on his own length of the field run and just falling short of the white line but setting up Pat Carr for his second try and seeing us go to the halftime break 16-4 up.
The second half started in Menai’s favour seeing us loose Scott Nancarrow to the bench for some repair work to his nose and Menai putting away two tries in the first 10 minutes of the half. Thankfully their kicker was having an off day otherwise the score would have read worse than the 16-12 it was. Menai definitely lifted a gear but not be outdone, our guys also matched anything Menai would deliver and in the end we got the upper hand and took the final score to a 34-12 win with some late tries to Shane Newton, Pat Carr and Rodney Moefaauo. Jason Beare was certainly in fine form today seeing him covert 5 of the 6 kicks he had.
With Trent croft out to injury, Tom Iacono stepped into the Hooker role and didn’t let us down showing he is very comfortable in this position having a blinder of a game. Nathan Bullock was also on fire today and as his biggest supporter “Len Cousemaker” would have said about his game “rolling, rolling, rolling” because this is what he does best, just hitting the ball up the paddock. Other standouts today was Andrew Johnston for the way he lead the team around the park, Scott Nancarrow for his hard work load and Kurt Ridley who was superb off the bench.
Although a scrappy game in sections this was a good gutsy win for our side and under the guidance of Kendal showed that we can scramble well when it is needed. Special thanks to Scott Frater who backed up from playing A-reserves to help us out.
Tries:
X3 Pat Carr
X2 Shane Newton
X1 Rodney Moefaauo
Goals:
X5 Jason Beare sponsored by SUBWAY Engadine
A Reserve V Menai Roosters WON 20 – 10
The Dragons put on a strong defensive display to lay the platform for a good win. We scored 3 first half tries despite a 4 to 1 penalty count against us keeping Menai in the hunt. We got caught out wide and let them in for a try.
In the backs Brayden “Buster” Davies at halfback really put on a show with his kicking. He had the lot. Long searching punts, bombs and a brilliant short tactical kicking game. He gave good service to the backline and got them firing. 5/8 Jimmy Mollard through some lovely balls that saw centre Scotty “freight train” Frater steam over for 2 tries , 1 each half. A great first half try was scored by Luke Nigro on the wing. Centre “T.V” Todd Vickery and “The King” Blake Cole on the wing had strong reliable games. Never mind the kick Tommy Hubbard you always do your best. It looked as though we would go in 14 – 6 at the break but they scored in the corner after the bell off a dubious penalty before half time. 14 -10. Given the score line we knew in the second half Menai would come out with their tails up looking for the home ground win. We had a little meeting at half time. Super Coach Fleming told the boys in no uncertain terms what was required. The call to arms in defence was answered in the best possible way. Our guys absolutely hammered them and kept them scoreless. Some of the hits, particularly by Prop Ben “Lubey” Leahy and second rower Kieran “salad sandwich” Smith were beautiful. On top of a good game last week Lubey was outstanding again with punishing tackles, good hands and ball running and was well supported by fellow prop “the tank” Dennis Marsh and hooker ”Milky” Steve Coughan. “Milky”, Logan McGlinchey off the bench and lock “chicken sausage” Benny Cotton had the best stats and worked hard all game. Logan was rewarded with a spectacular try after a long run when he burst through the opposition. The old warrior Dave Hird, Gav Priestly and “head” Glen Dryland had good games too. Steve Dabin played consistently well through the match and really made an impression in the last 10 or 15 with the hit, spin and pop up passes. But it can only work if the support is there. It was. Some of the hand offs and support plays were pretty to watch. The attacking raids some times went through 5 or 6 sets of hands and were very entertaining. You showed you can play football in this game.
Committee and A grade at the Bunnings BBQ
Have a look at the photos taken at the Bunnings Kirrawee BBQ. You will be able to recognise current and past committee members and some of the A grade squad working on the BBQ and raising money for the club. Since the start of the year we have done two Bunnings BBQ's and raised around $3,000 for the club. We have another Bunnings BBQ on the Monday of the Queens Birthday weekend and a further one (to be run by the A grade squad) later in July. If you are Bunnings Kirrawee and see the Dragons folks call in and say hello.
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Management Committee
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Grahame Wagener |
President |
9520 4535 |
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Craig Wheeler |
Vice-President |
9545 1185 |
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Leanne Lucy |
Secretary |
9520 2450 |
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Peter Sciberras |
Assist Secretary |
0416 45 3062
0416 45 3062 |
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Dale Morrell |
Treasurer |
9548 3298 |
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Paul Williams |
Assist Treasurer |
9548 0047 |
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Col Lucy |
Committee |
9520 2450 |
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Steve Crabb |
Committee |
9548 0826 |
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Mark Dodge |
Committee |
9548 0704 |
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Brian Cannings |
Committee |
9520 6471 |
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Kevin Querin |
Committee |
9520 1088 |
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Wayne Bell |
Committee |
0437 675 819
0437 675 819 |
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Michael Brown |
Committee |
0417 065 631
0417 065 631 |
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Bill Kemp |
Committee |
9520 4740 |
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Judd O’Shea |
Committee |
9520 1215 |
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Peter Ellem |
Committee |
9520 5339 |
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Greg Bird |
Committee |
9520 0231 |
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Andy Gilmore |
Committee |
0416 256 525
0416 256 525 |
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Mark Chapman |
Committee |
9520 2087 |
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Mark Elder |
Committee |
0418 281 633
0418 281 633 |
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Steve Duggan |
Committee |
0412 211 485
0412 211 485 |
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Matt Chapman |
Committee |
9520 2087 |
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Andrew Ferguson |
Committee |
0411 603 537
0411 603 537 |
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Brett Rogers |
Committee |
9520 2327 |
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Matt Connor |
Committee |
0412 445 343
0412 445 343 |
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Danielle Lee |
Committee |
0419 284 824
0419 284 824 |
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David Kidd |
Committee |
0414 870 215
0414 870 215 |
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Martin Smith |
Committee |
0450 124 180
0450 124 180 |
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Bob Mitreski |
Committee |
0450 124 180
0450 124 180 |
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Player Profile
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Eli Ferguson
Eli Ferguson is 7 years old and had his first trial game when he was still 3 years old.
Eli is the son of former player and current Gear Steward for the Club Andrew Ferguson.
Last year, in the under 6’s he was the highest try scorer for the Dragons with a massive 28 tries. He was also the top point scorer in the Junior Club. He has continued on this year and at this date has scored 10 tries & kicked 5 goals.
Eli is a Sharks supporter and his favourite players are Luke Covell and his namesake Blake Ferguson. Eli's biggest hobby is his football, but he also loves wakeboarding and golf.
With players like Eli coming through, the future of the Dragons is looking bright.
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