Dragons promote juniors ahead of new season

By JACK AMI
GABUTU Dragons have promoted several of their premiership-winning Under-20 players to the A-grade for the upcoming Moresby South Rugby League season.
This is because these players have turned 21 and head coach Bagelo Solien has elevated them to the senior grade to make way for newcomers to the U20s.
Solien said the youngsters were Martin Paisoi, Keith Thomas, Gabriel Peter, Jonah Wesis, Benson Albert, and twin brothers Jonah and Joshua Sanive.
“We have to encourage and promote our players to the next level, so they can develop themselves in the senior grade,” the former national women’s team coach said.
“We are also making way for younger players to fill the void as many youngsters have shown interest to play in the U20s.
“We want to be transparent about the age of players instead of cheating and playing in the U20s longer than allowed.
“This means that senior players need to step up or face omission to allow for youngsters to come through the grades.”
Paisoi said he was excited about the promotion. “This will be a tough task for me, so I have to be committed to training and remain disciplined all season,” he said.
“I’ve played one or two games in the senior grade, but this year will be different for me and the others as we compete for starting spots each week.
“We are committed our field and gym sessions in an effort to be fit and ready for the senior grade.”
Paisoi said Solien had always made it a priority to develop youngsters instead of recruiting ready-made players.
Club president Moses Kumbi said: “We have identified all our over-aged players and promoted them.
“We had one or two over-aged players in the U20s for a long time and it was unfair on other clubs.”
Kumbi urged other clubs to do the same and promote their over-aged players to the senior grade, as per the league’s rules.
League acting chairman Nathan Andes praised Dragons for the decision to promote players to the senior grade.
He said this was a step in the right direction as the league continued to encourage fair play amongst clubs for the new season.