St George Illawarra Dragons centre Euan Aitken is thrilled at the possibility of running out in front of a home crowd against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at WIN Stadium on Saturday.
Aitken, 19, has had a dream run these past few days, making both his debut against the Canberra Raiders last round before signing a contract extension which will see him remain until at least the end of the 2017 season.
The Merimbula-Pambula junior is looking to continue on from an impressive 2014 campaign, where he was named the Dragons Paul McGregor NYC ‘Player of the Year’, as well as being selected in both the Junior Kangaroos and the initial NSW Blues U20 State of Origin squad.
“I was really excited to make my NRL debut, Mary let me know on Friday morning that I was coming down to Canberra to play on Saturday, and what a great way to start, with a come-from-behind win,” said Aitken.
“It’s a great club so I’m really happy to be here and have extended my contract.
“The lifestyle here is great so there was always a reason to sign here and I wasn’t looking anywhere else.
“The playing group is good and I reckon we can do well this season if we put it together.
“The coaching staff are great, I’ve been around Ben Hornby and Dean Young as assistant coaches for a couple of years now so it always make it helpful.
“When Benji talked me up last year, I took it as a reward for the way I’ve trained and the effort I put in all preseason, but I don’t tend to look at that too much.
“Instead, I just worry about my own thing and I try to do everything right for myself and obviously improve on all areas I can.
“I’m looking forward to Saturday night, hopefully there’s a good crowd that comes out to watch us play against Manly, it’s going to be a good experience as it’s what I’ve been looking forward to since I was a young junior here.
“I’m St George Illawarra Dragons through and through.”
