Live stream: St George young gun Corey Ackers wants to be the next in the club’s prop production line

UPDATE: The NSWRL streams have been impacted by Sydney’s severe weather this week. Find out the latest on game changes here.

UPDATE: Due to the impact of the inclement weather in Sydney on some suburban footy grounds, the Daily Telegraph has been forced to make a change to its NSWRL junior reps live streams this weekend.

While the rain might have dashed our opportunity to stream the much anticipated SG Ball clash between Manly Sea Eagles and St George Dragons, what it can’t diminish is our commitment to the next generation of NRL and NRLW talent.

The Telegraph will now exclusively stream all the action from Leichhardt Oval, with the Balmain Tigers taking on a resurgent Newcastle Knights in the Harold Matts Cup.

The Cup clash will kick off at 1pm Saturday afternoon.

We are determined to bring our readers the best action from the NSWRL junior representative program and will endeavour to have the Dragons and Sea Eagles on our stream in the future.

Ackers a chip off the Dragons stocky block

Corey Ackers is being earmarked as the next great middle forward to come off the St George production line with the 17-year-old Dragon battering opponents in the Harold Matthews Cup.

Ackers will be vice-captain in the Dragons’ Harold Matthews Cup side when they take to the New Era Stadium on Saturday for the round 4 clash with the Sea Eagles.

Ackers is a life-long Dragons fan and looks up to St George Illawarra enforcer Tariq Sims, as well as his NSW teammate Cameron Murray.

“Tariq is always there when he’s needed,” Ackers said.

“He makes the big runs and the hard carries his team needs to get the momentum moving.

Dragons front rower Corey Ackers is quickly rising through the ranks at the Red V. Picture: Toby Zerna

“In the last few years I’ve also looked at Cameron Murray. He’s very skillful, a good leader and doesn’t miss a tackle.”

St George coach Jason Thorne has guided Ackers for two of his three years with the club and said his key forward has what it takes to one day play in the NRL.

“His biggest strength is his determination to succeed,” Thorne said.

“He’s all about footy, he’s destined to play footy for the rest of his life and he’s trained his bum off to get to where he wants to go.”

“Corey will end up being a lock, we are playing him in the front row because we have another lock [Finau Latu] also coming through.

“He’s got good hands, he’s fast - he runs down wingers and they don‘t know where he’s come from and he throws them over the sideline. He’s got a lot of steam in the engine room and he leads the team in attack and defense.”

The 185cm tyro prides himself in leading by example and in words that will be music to the ears of the Red V army, Ackers told The Daily Telegraph he’s determined to be a Dragon for life.

Corey Ackers is expected to be moulded into a lock forward by the time he hits the NRL. Picture: Toby Zerna

“The team is younger this year and my job is to lead the younger boys around,” he said.

“It’s good being a leader, it’s not the name of being vice captain, but how you act on the field and demonstrate what needs to be done.

“I want to go all the way to the NRL and eventually NSW and Australia. I’ve put a lot of effort in, I never used to make rep sides when I was younger, but I want to stay at the Dragons and become one of their legendary players.”

The weather forecast is ominous for Saturday’s tussle with the 12th-placed Sea Eagles, but Ackers said he isn’t worried about getting a bit of mud on the boots.

“Playing in the wet is the best part of footy,” he said.

“It’s easier to hit people and for them to drop the ball.

“It’s all about having good control of the ball in the middle, you don’t want to throw the ball out the back as much, just hard runs down the middle.”

Originally published as Live stream: St George young gun Corey Ackers wants to be the next in the club’s prop production line