Daniel Lacey arguably landed the biggest coup ahead of the NRL Nines. And the Dragons NRLW coach is keen to see Isabelle Kelly come to Wollongong on a permanent basis.
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Lacey hasn't ruled out the chance of the Jillaroos star, who has spent the past two seasons with the Roosters, joining the Red V for their 2020 NRLW campaign.
The club hopes to go one better after last year's grand final defeat to Brisbane.
"It's baby steps at the moment. For her to show interest in wanting to be at the club is great for us," he said.
"It's a great coup to get to play in the Nines. I'm sure we'll sit down with her, maybe on the plane home [from Perth] and see where she is at with her future. But she's in our plans.
"It would be massive. The girls here are good friends with her. They're good players, but also good people at the clubs and that's what attracts players like that. Just from the two sessions we've had so far with Issy, she fits in really well and she's loving her time here. Who knows, if we win the Nines, she might want to come back to play. But this is the start of the year and that's [NRLW] the end of the year, there's a big gap in between."
Former Golden Boot winner Kelly, 23, is set to make a formidable centres pairing with Dally M Player of the Year Jess Sergis at this month's Nines in Perth.
The Dragons squad features 13 players who played in last year's decider, including internationals Kezie Apps, Keeley Davis, Sergis and Botille Vette-Welsh.
Inaugural Dragons NRLW captain Sam Bremner will also make her return after an 18-month break following the birth of her first child.
"What a great pick up Sammy is," Lacey said.
"She's looking really fit and fast so I'm just trying to slow her down a little bit. She's been a year out of the game and she's got some unfinished business.
"Sammy's a big part of this club and we're looking forward to her getting out there in the Red V again."
Isabelle fits in really well and she's loving her time here... she's in our plans.
- Daniel Lacey
This year marks the first time that women's teams have competed at the NRL Nines. Lacey admitted that training sessions hadn't involved an "overly high work level", but it was good to get the team back together early in the year.
"It's not that important, football wise. But development wise, it is," Lacey said.
"I get to talk to all of the girls all year, but you come together only for about 12 weeks. To get the girls back together and training together keeps them in our system. They love being around each other. Whenever we get the chance to do something like this, they're all in on it.
"We definitely want to win it [the Nines]. We know we've got a team that will be strong but we also know the other teams are going to be strong. You've got nine minutes and you might only have the ball three or four times. If you don't take that opportunity, you can lose that game no matter how good your team is.
"There's only going to be one ever first Nines women's club premiers. We want that mantle."
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Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
