It feels like it wasn’t that long ago a 10-year-old Lachlan Ilias braved the conditions to watch his Dragons storm home against the Roosters to win the 2010 NRL Grand Final.
Now 24 and with 53 games of NRL experience and three Test matches under his belt, Ilias is admiring his new colours – the same red and white he donned on that famous day at Homebush over a decade ago – having made the move from South Sydney last week.
“It’s just a bit of a pinch myself moment,” Ilias said.
“It’s really cool to be a part of this massive club. Through my life, I’ve known how proud it is… It’s pretty funny because, at Souths, Ben Hornby was my coach and now Dean Young is my coach here, so it’s a bit of a full circle moment. I’m excited to be here.”
It proved quite the welcome for the Greek international who had the opportunity to be involved in the club’s annual Robert Stone Memorial Golf Day in his first week at the club.
“Obviously, could have played some better golf, but golf is always the winner,” he laughed.
“The boys are great. They’ve welcomed me with open arms… They train hard as well, which is great to see. They train really hard. I can’t wait to properly train with them and just keep improving the relationships.”
A fractured tibia kept Ilias sidelined for much of 2024, but the Leichhardt Wanderers junior is confident that he will be back training at full capacity before too long.
“It’s been really good. The bone’s really strong,” he said.
“I’m just sort of changing direction and doing some runs like that. We ramped it up when I got here, and I’m really excited about that. I’m thinking around probably Christmas or just after New Year, I’ll be back training full-time with the boys. That’ll give me a few months before round one. It should be an exciting season ahead.”
Carpooling with former teammates Damien Cook, Jaydn Su’A, and Hame Sele has helped Ilias enjoy a smooth transition into life as a Dragon.
“You want to have fresh start, but it’s good to have those connections prior to coming in,” he said.
“It just makes the transition a little bit easier, but I’m excited to form new combinations and just be the best person I can be… We’ve got a good spine here. I think we’ve just got to form our combinations and play to each other’s strengths. I’m really looking forward to it.”
