By Mary Maidiotis
St George Illawarra Dragons prop Luke Page is ecstatic after making his first-grade debut over the weekend and is hopeful of more game-time as his side looks to take on the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks at Remondis Stadium, Cronulla on Sunday.
The Centenary JRLFC junior joined the Red V last week alongside fellow prop Mark Ioane and had just two sessions before starting off the bench in the recent fixture against the North Queensland Cowboys.
Page, 24, admits it is difficult for him to prove his capabilities with little game time but is eager to seize another opportunity in the near future.
“It was an unfortunate score against the Cowboys but I’m extremely happy to have debuted for the club and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season,” said Page.
“Physicality-wise from NSW Cup to the NRL is pretty similar but the pace is vastly different.
“NRL is very fast-paced, everyone’s trying to get the quick play-the-ball so it’s a big step up from NSW Cup.
“Mark and I were at the Gold Coast Titans a few years ago so we know each other from there but it was a hectic week, we had a lot of information thrown at us but I thought it went well.
“I found out on Monday that I was coming to the Dragons and I only had two sessions with the boys before playing on Saturday.
“A loss is never what you want but we’ll do video this week and review it, and we’ll see what happens from there.
“I only got 10-15 minutes so it’s hard to prove yourself in such a short amount of time but if the opportunity arises again, I will take it with both hands and I’m looking forward to it.”
