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THEIR
first competition match is still almost four
months away, but that didn't stop the Dragons
from kick-starting their pre-season training
campaign yesterday in Wollongong.
Kangaroo
tourists Jason Ryles, Shaun Timmins and Matt
Cooper missed St George Illawarra's first
official hit out, as did injured skipper Trent
Barrett.
But
fellow experienced players Lance Thompson,
Luke Bailey and Mark Gasnier were put through
their paces yesterday at the University of
Wollongong.
A
sprinkling of new faces were also in attendance,
including Michael Ennis, who made an instant
impression at the Dragons by winning the club's
beep test.
St
George Illawarra coach Nathan Brown said he
was happy to have Ennis and fellow recruits
Colin Best, Albert Torrens and Willie Manu
on board.
"Obviously
we lost a couple of players but we're very
happy with the players we've got to replace
them," he said.
"Ennis
can play the full 80 minutes we believe, and
he'll be a more than capable replacement for
Mark Riddell.
"While
ideally we would have liked to have kept Lincoln
Withers as a backup, that was not possible.
We'll probably go with Aaron Gorrell as Ennis'
backup."
The
Dragons finished fifth in the 2004 NRL competition,
their best home-and-away result in the joint
venture's six-year history.
But,
the way they went out of the finals' "back
door" frustrates Brown.
St
George Illawarra lost their first finals game
31-30 to Penrith and were knocked out of the
premiership race after Melbourne and North
Queensland upset Brisbane and Canterbury respectively.
"It
was disappointing the way things turned out
in the finals, but I guess we've learned that
there's no tomorrow and we have to make the
most of our opportunities," Brown said.
"It
is the start of a new pre-season now and we're
just concerned with preparing for another
campaign. We're scheduled to train for the
next six weeks before taking a couple of weeks
off over Christmas ... and then getting stuck
into it again."
Before
the season starts, the Dragons will play two
trial matches, the Charity Shield showdown
against South Sydney at Aussie Stadium on
February 19, and a clash against Manly at
Centenary Field the week after.
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