Rugby League Coaching Manuals

By Mike Driscoll, Illawarra Mercury - Dragons coach Wayne Bennett has named a 23-man squad to head to Western Australia next week for a pre-season camp and trial against the Sydney Roosters on Saturday week.

New signings Darius Boyd, Neville Costigan, Luke Priddis, Jeremy Smith and Michael Weyman, plus the returning Mathew Head, have been included in the squad for the first match under Bennett.

The Dragons head to Perth next Monday and will spend the week training and conducting coaching clinics before the Roosters' clash.

Bennett is excited about taking league back to Western Australia, saying the NRL must consider a Perth bid in any expanded competition.

"It will be good to take the game across to Perth and I think it is somewhere that the NRL should consider when looking at expanding the game in the future," Bennett said.

"I've taken other teams to play against the Western Reds in the past and it is a very vibrant city with a lot of people that are sports mad.

" I won't be looking for anything spectacular from the guys, but it will be good to get back into the mindset of playing football and what we are going to need to do week in, week out when the season starts."

Dragons winger Wendell Sailor is backing the club's 8000km round trip west to play a trial game.

"It would've been a while since Perth has seen top-flight rugby league but with the Dragons and Roosters coming over it will be a good opportunity for everyone to come out and see a great game," Sailor said.

"I've been over there a few times to play previously but to be able to spread the word around town and get out in the community will be a great experience that all the boys are really looking forward to."

Dragons squad: Darius Boyd, Matt Cooper, Neville Costigan, Ben Creagh, Jon Green, Mathew Head, Ben Hornby, Dan Hunt, Michael Lett, Brett Morris, Jason Nightingale, Justin Poore, Luke Priddis, Matthew Prior, Jarrod Saffy, Wendell Sailor, Beau Scott, Jeremy Smith, Jamie Soward, Chase Stanley, Ricky Thorby, Michael Weyman, Dean Young.