Dragons travel to Far South Coast for Road to Regions

The Dragons last week visited schools and junior clubs along the Far South Coast as a part of the NRL's Road to Regions.

Ryan Couchman and Keele Browne both travelled down for the three-day schedule which included stops at Sunshine Bay Public School, Narooma Public School, Mogo Public School and Batemans Bay Public School.

The duo, flanked by the Dragons Community Team as well as former Dragon Chase Stanley, also completed a Respect Session with the Milton-Ulladulla Bulldogs – Browne's junior club – before being on hand for PSSA trials in Batemans Bay.

The Team also hosted a 'Win the Morning with the Dragons' event in which they went for a morning walk before catching up with locals for coffee and breakfast.

Browne was thrilled to be returning to the club where her journey started.

"It was pretty cool to go back to where it all started and deliver our session to the young ones there," she said.

"There was just as many girls as boys. It was pretty proud for me that there's now a pathway for all of those young girls from Milton-Ulladulla. Being able to go back and tell them from experience that, even though you grow up in a small town, it doesn't mean that you can't chase your dreams and play on the big stage is really cool."

Browne grew up in Ulladulla but had to wait until she was 15 to play League Tag because no team had existed up until that point.

She took up tackle the following year after pestering her mum before progressing through the grades with the Steelers and eventually to the NRLW.

"We had really good numbers at all of our visits and there was definitely a lot of energy," she said.

"They were all really excited. Our sessions are all about building healthy cultures and encouraging the positive values that make up a good team. We focus in on respect because it's such an important part of rugby league. If we start planting that seed when they're young, it'll help build healthy and positive environments for junior rugby league clubs."