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St George Illawarra have banned talk of the British weather as they set their sights on world glory.
The Dragons were greeted with a sudden drop in temperature when they flew into London today to prepare for next Sunday’s World Club Challenge with Super League champions Wigan at the DW Stadium.
“It was 30 degrees when we played our last warm-up game on Friday night in Wollongong, the temperature here is probably three degrees,” said Dragons chairman Warren Lockwood.
“I know it’s going to be cold but we’re not allowed to talk about it being cold. We’ve come here to play football and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Dragons coach Wayne Bennett has included 14 members of October’s grand final winning team in his 20-strong squad and Lockwood believes they are at least as strong as last season.
“We’ve brought a strong squad with us,” he said. “Out of the 17 players who played in the grand final, we have 14 here.
“A couple have moved on, as happens in football, but we’ve replaced them with up-and-coming youngsters, which is what we do and there are some here who will surprise a few people.
“There’s a mixture of players, some of them who have been playing a while have been over here on tours, but there’s a large majority who haven’t been to Britain before.
“There’s one 19 year-old and one 20-year-old, so this is a big adventure for them.
“This is the first time the Dragons have ever been to England to play. We’ve been going since 1921, so there’s real excitement.
“We’re serious about the World Club Challenge – we’ve come over here to win it and we’ve got a coach who wants to win every time and the players want to win.
“We’re not over here for a holiday, we’re over here to try our best to win it. I just hope that there’s a good crowd and it’s a good game.”
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