St George Illawarra Dragons National Youth Competition centre Euan Aitken was pleased with his on-field performance against the Gold Coast Titans.
The Shellharbour Sharks junior scored a hat-trick of tries against the Titans after an extended time on the sideline after tearing his hamstring twice within weeks.
"I thought I played pretty well, it was a big improvement from last week, I thought I was a bit flat last week," said Aitken.
"I had a bit of time out due to injury, so I was focused on getting my match fitness back.
"It was a good feeling to get back out there and play well.
"I tore my hamstring in the lead up to U20s Origin and I probably came back a bit too early and tore it again in the warm up before the Parramatta game.
"I had an extended time on the sideline to monitor the injury and complete my rehab program.
"It's good to finally get back on the field, I'm feeling fresh.
"It's a great opportunity for Drewy to step up to the Cutters and Shannon (Crook) has stepped into that half position really well.
"He fed me a fair bit of ball and I was lucky enough to get over the line a few times.
"I thought he did a great job there steering the team around.
"I'm looking forward to getting back to Wollongong this weekend, it's always great to get out in front of the home crowd.
"We made the trek to Melbourne for the last match against them and it wasn't the best result; we were a bit flat that day.
"Hopefully, we can continue the streak on Monday which will hold us in good stead leading into the back end of the season."
