Ryan: Learning Composure & Mental Toughness

St George Illawarra Dragons five-eighth Todd Ryan is seeing the value in his opportunity to train with the first grade side this pre-season as he hopes to add new dimensions to his game.

Ryan was a member of the Dragons National Youth Competition team last season that had a successful campaign in 2012, as well as the Newtown Jets.

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The Milton junior is hoping to continue that success with the Illawarra Cutters this season with an eye to breaking into the Dragons first grade side.

Ryan has noticed a significant upgrade in training intensity with the first grade side this preseason and believes that having some fellow youngsters in the team has helped his confidence.

“I think it’s amazing that I’ve been given the opportunity to make the step up, I had a pretty good year last year and to be able to learn of guys like Nathan Fien and Jamie Soward will be very beneficial for my career going forward,” said Ryan.

“I’ve been learning a lot about composure and mental toughness and I think those two guys have really helped me a lot with understanding more of the mental side of the game.

“Playing for the Cutters has been a great pathway for me and I’ve learnt a lot working my way through the different grades so I hope I can turn that into a first grade career in the future.

“Hopefully I can have a consistent year for the Cutters again and maybe try to work my way into the first grade side and I also want to keep learning as much as I can.

“The training is really good, everyone has a high mentality and the effort is always there.

“I think having some of the younger guys come up to train this preseason with me as well has helped to give me a lot of confidence moving forward into training and it’s been very beneficial.”