The St George Illawarra Dragons High Performance Unit hit the road to visit several External Academy program students at Bob Aldrige Park, Temora on Wednesday.
Dragons HPU Manager Ben Haran was joined by NYC Co-Head Coach Dean Young and Illawarra Steelers SG Ball Head Coach Shaun Timmins for the one-day clinic which was attended by four contracted players and 10 additional players.
The 14 players were put through a day of testing including basic skills, speed and strength levels as well as other tests that help cover prepare young players for the demands of the NRL.
“We always enjoy the opportunities to travel to our regional areas and work alongside our contracted external academy players,” said Young.
“All the players showed their enthusiasm to learn and demonstrated a lot of positive improvements from their individual programs developed for their unique requirements.”
The HPU operates an External Academy program aimed at servicing the developmental needs to a small number of external country-based players on contract or scholarship to the Club.
Additionally, the HPU comprises of a Senior Academy with 25 players aged 17-18; an Intermediate Academy with 16 players aged 15-16 and two Junior Academies, one based in Wollongong and one in Sydney with 16 players each aged 14-15.
The programs run from the end of the Junior Representative season in May through until the end of the rugby league season.
