Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Dragons speedster Tyrell Sloan remains unsigned beyond this season, but the winger looms as St George Illawarra’s X factor, especially now NRL teams can carry six players on the bench.
Sloan and the Dragons were the last of the four teams to depart for Las Vegas on Saturday morning, with the 23-year-old expected to be in the mix for an extended bench spot alongside recruit David Fale and possibly Mat Feagai when they play Canterbury on March 1.
Dragons winger Tyrell Sloan could be a key player for the club this season.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong
The new rules allow coaches to pick four interchanges from a six-man bench, which will be determined by injuries and whether a team is chasing points.
Sloan is one of the most electric attacking players in the competition, and with coach Shane Flanagan saying teams will likely opt for a specialist playmaker and outside back in jerseys No.18 and No.19, he could play more regularly than he initially thought.
Clint Gutherson is co-captain and the first-choice fullback, but Sloan has worked hard to keep himself in the selection frame, even to the point he passed on the Indigenous All Stars so he could feature in the trials.
“He could play centre if he had to, you could move a winger to centre, he can play fullback, wing – if it’s late in the game and you need points, you’d just tell ‘Sloany’ to go on and chance your arm a bit,” Flanagan told this masthead.
Dragons caoch Shane Flanagan says Sloan could make his mark off the bench.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong
“It comes in to consideration, for sure. He’s had a really good post-Christmas period, he’s trained really well.”
The Bulldogs are expected to push hard for another top-four berth while bookies have the Dragons in a three-way shootout for the wooden spoon with the Gold Coast and another Vegas-bound team, Newcastle.
Concerns about St George Illawarra’s title hopes were not eased when they lost the Charity Shield to a second-string South Sydney team last weekend.
Flanagan knows the Dragons were unlucky to lose a few tight games last year, which would have helped them bump up the ladder, while the string of rookies would only be better for the experience this year.
“During the trials we had a lot of young boys play in the first trial [against Newcastle], and in the second trial a lot of our senior boys played, but you always sensed there was a bit of ‘what’s next?’ and guys not wanting to get injured or suspended because they were looking forward to next week [in Las Vegas],” Flanagan said.
“We’re here now and everyone is fit, except for three or four boys.
“Like all teams, we need to stay healthy and get our best team on the paddock week in, week out. We had a couple of tight losses last year, and we had eight debutants … they’ll be better for the experience.
“We just need to keep them on the field and turn those close losses around.”
Daniel Atkinson has been recruited and will play in the halves with Kyle Flanagan, while coach Flanagan said young half Kade Reed had enormous potential but the flight to Vegas was always going to come too soon.
Back-rower Dylan Egan, who is not due back from a ruptured ACL until around May, was a late call-up to America, and will continue his rehab with the main group while also helping the club with media commitments.
