Mal Meninga eyes Dragons young gun Reece Robson for Titans

Meet the St George Illawarra rookie who has played a grand total of 46 minutes of NRL football but already has Gold Coast’s new head of performance Mal Meninga singing his praise.

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Meet the St George Illawarra rookie who has played a grand total of 46 minutes of NRL football but already has Australia’s Test coach Mal Meninga singing his praise.

Reece Robson is just 20 and was a member of the Junior Kangaroos this year while also playing in the Prime Minister’s XIII game against Papua New Guinea.

But despite having just two NRL games off the bench for the Dragons so far, Meninga is massive fan.

In fact, the Gold Coast Titans’ new head of performance and culture makes no apologies for declaring his interest in bringing back the youngster, who originally hails from Murwillumbah in the Tweed Shire.

The reigning NSW under 20s player of the year comes off contract at the end of 2019, which means Robson is already fair game to rival NRL clubs.

Robson is counted as one of the best up and coming dummy halves in the league.

And the problem for the Dragons is going to be keeping him and Cam McInnes at the same time.

As talented as Robson is, McInnes is only 24 and has tremendous respect within the Dragons’ playing squad as a part of Paul McGregor’s leadership group.

There was some speculation doing the rounds in Queensland this week that the Titans might have been interested in making a late bid to try and wrestle Cameron Smith away from Melbourne, given Smith is yet to sign his new contract with the Storm.

But Meninga was adamant that was not on the Titans’ agenda.

“I am 100 per cent sure (Smith) will be playing for the Melbourne Storm next year,” Meninga said.

But when Robson’s name came up in conversation, well, now that was a different subject entirely.

“That is the type of player we want playing for the club,” Meninga said.

McInnes has a mortgage on the Dragons hooking job. Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images.

“Reece comes from Murwillumbah.

“We are really keen on any talent that comes from the Gold Coast, if he wanted to come back to the club.

“I mean, that is what we want to do here (bring back local juniors).

“Brian Kelly is a really good example.

“It is great to have Brian back in the system after his time at Manly.”

The Gold Coast already has Nathan Peats and Mitch Rein who are both 28 and quality dummy halves.

But as is the case with every NRL club, there always has to be an eye on the future.

While staunch Dragons fans will already know of Robson’s talent, to the wider rugby league public he is still to really hit the spotlight.

Robson is just about ready for the big time.

But that is not to say the youngster hasn’t already sparked some serious interest.

Meninga certainly doesn’t need to be told how good a prospect Robson is.

“He is a first grader (now), definitely a first grader,” Meninga said.

Asked if he considered Robson a future representative player, Meninga didn’t hesitate: “Absolutely. I love his competitiveness and his toughness.

“I have been lucky enough to see him in action and watch how he carries himself around the footy team.

“He is a humble kid who wants to do well.

“He trains well, he loves his footy.

“He is someone we definitely have great interest in.”

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