Orphanage work will help ease Justin Poore's pain

Dragons prop Justin Poore will put the double disappointment of a season-ending knee injury and St George Illawarra's finals exit behind him when he travels to Africa to work as a missionary next month.Poore will join Parramatta's Nathan Hindmarsh, Wests spearhead Todd Payten and sacked Canberra Raiders playmaker Todd Carney on the 10-day journey to Rwanda.Leaving the day after the NRL grand final, Poore will miss the Dragons medal presentation night in Wollongong in October to help build an orphanage in the central African nation."It'll be a great experience," he said. "It's certainly taking me out of my comfort zone, but I'm looking forward to it."The front-rower's heart-warming mission comes at a time when the NRL has been rocked by a sexual assault claim surrounding three Brisbane players and Cronulla star Greg Bird facing charges for allegedly thrusting a glass in the face of his girlfriend Katie Milligan.And, in other good news for the Dragons, Poore has declared he will recover from his dislocated knee cap in time to return to preseason training in November.Poore yesterday vowed to fill the shoes of former team-mate Jason Ryles as the club's leading prop next season.After being picked in the Australian World Cup squad last month, Poore's sensational season was cut short when he suffered a dislocated knee cap against the Sharks at Toyota Park.Poore admitted watching from the sidelines as St George Illawarra were bundled out of the NRL finals against Manly was a heartbreaking end to the year.But the Dragons workhorse said he hoped to be back in full training in late November under incoming coach Wayne Bennett."I should be back riding the bike next week," he said. "The surgery has gone well and I should be fully recovered to return in the second week of training."The 23-year-old said he was determined to take the next step in his career in a new era for the Dragons following the exit of Ryles, coach Nathan Brown and captain Mark Gasnier.