Maturity of players reason for Dragons resurgence

Dragons workhorse Jack de Belin has attributed his side's resurgence this season to the number of players reaching their NRL middle-age.

While the Dragons NRL squad still has a relatively young average age of 23, the full roster has 19 players aged from 23 to 26, the most of any team in that age bracket. Of that group, Josh Dugan and Gareth Widdop have both joined the 100-game club this season and, barring injury, Leeson Ah Mau and Mitch Rein will join them in the coming weeks, having both notched 92 NRL games.

Most tellingly the bulk of the Dragons' roster are on the other side of 50 top-grade appearances and, according to de Belin, fully accustomed to the NRL grind.

"A lot of us players are in our third and fourth year now and have all played 50-plus games," de Belin said.

"As much as you think when you're younger that it doesn't take that long to get adjusted to the NRL, it does. When you're younger and inexperienced one week you might kill it and the next you play rubbish and the next you might be just average.

"It's hard to get into that routine of playing consistently good footy every week. I think myself and a lot of the guys have found that this year. A lot of us are starting to hit our stride and play some of the best footy of our careers."

It's a description that certainly reflects de Belin's 71-game career, which he's taken to new heights as an interchange weapon, averaging 34 tackles a match to top the Dragons tally.

He said a clear directive from coach Paul McGregor, who last year sent him back to the NSW Cup, prompted his form reversal.

"Mary said to me, 'you're a consistent first-grader now, you need to step it up. You can't just be that young fella working away any more, you need to lift your game and become a leader for us'."

The Dragons' six consecutive wins were enough to see Rein, Joel Thompson and Tyson Frizell earn Country Origin selection.

De Belin was well in the selection frame and says missing out will prove a motivator for the remainder of the season.

"It was good to see all those boys get that recognition, it's well deserved," de Belin said.

"I think it's everyone's goal to play rep footy and I feel I put my best case forward and was starting to play some good footy but life goes on. It's not the end of the world. It's good to know that your name's being tossed around a bit and even though I didn't get picked I knew my name was in the mix, so hopefully next year I can go one step better.

"I'll just use it as motivation and it's still very much a goal of mine in the future."