Congrats Stewart & Couchman x 2

[AyiosYiorgos]

Dean Young confirms three selections for PM's XIII squad

The three selections were revealed at the club’s Awards ceremony on Tuesday night.

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St George Illawarra Dragons coach Dean Young has confirmed three of his young guns have been included in this year's Prime Minister's XIII squad, with brothers Toby and Ryan Couchman joined by Hamish Stewart in the Australian selection.
With the Dragons missing the finals this season, the club's crop of emerging talent was always likely to feature heavily among the squads assembled for the fixture.

The trio's inclusion continues a season of individual recognition for the club's young forward pack.

The Dragons' Awards ceremony on Tuesday night saw Hamish Stewart win the Red V Members Player of the Year and the Dragons Medal, given to the club's best player for that season.
Stewart becomes the youngest recipient of the award, beating Mathew Head's selection in 2004.

Head was 22 years and 112 days old when he received the medal, whereas Stewart was 22 years and 24 days old.

The 22-year-old was also the NRL's tackles leader, making 996 tackles this season.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 03: Hamish Stewart of the Dragons makes a break during the round nine NRL match between Wests Tigers and St George Illawarra Dragons at Suncorp Stadium, on May 03, 2025, in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
The Prime Minister's XIII squad is traditionally drawn from players whose clubs have missed out on the finals series.

This gives selectors first pick of talent that would otherwise have a long break at the end of the season.

Clubs out of premiership contention by September suddenly have a genuine incentive to keep their squad sharp and playing meaningful football into October.


Selectors also use the match to take a closer look at players sitting on the fringe of the Kangaroos setup, treating it as a low-risk opportunity to expose emerging talent to a representative environment ahead of the international season.

Toby Couchman has been among the most consistent performers in the Dragons' pack this season, while twin Ryan Couchman has impressed since returning from injury.

Stewart continues to build his reputation as one of the most promising young forwards to come through the club's system in recent years.
All three have been tied to the club's long-term future, and their selection adds to a growing list of representative honours for the Dragons' young forward group under Dean Young.

Last year, Australia's Prime Minister's XIII was named on the 7th of October, days after the NRL Grand Final.

The match against Papua New Guinea was played on the 12th of October, five days after the full squad was named.

The 2026 Rugby League World Cup starts on October 15, which is eleven days after the NRL Grand Final, with Australia playing New Zealand to open the campaign.

 

[Dragon David]

A great reward for these three young forwards, Hamish Stewart, Toby Couchman and Ryan Couchman. Congratulations and hopefully all three have good games, if selected to play from the selected squad and come through unscathed.

 

[Morgan]

Not a fan. Want them to get picked for Aus or have a couple of months off and report to pre-season training on the first day back.

Last year Kyle Flanagan got picked for this team. It's a bit of a joke. Those 3 have no business in this team for this game.

 

[Eric]

Not a fan. Want them to get picked for Aus or have a couple of months off and report to pre-season training on the first day back.

Last year Kyle Flanagan got picked for this team. It's a bit of a joke. Those 3 have no business in this team for this game.

The thing is, I think you will find they want to play.

 

[The Word]

It's a stepping stone towards higher honours like Origin or Australia. It shows they are all in the selectors line of sight and it's a nice reward for a tough season.

Hopefully they get a lot out of the experience and fingers crossed no injuries. We are going to need to get used to a lot more of our squad getting selected for various rep honours going forward if all goes according to plan.

 

[Dragon David]

It's a stepping stone towards higher honours like Origin or Australia. It shows they are all in the selectors line of sight and it's a nice reward for a tough season.

Hopefully they get a lot out of the experience and fingers crossed no injuries. We are going to need to get used to a lot more of our squad getting selected for various rep honours going forward if all goes according to plan.

This is why the club needs to have solid depth players waiting in the wings just in case we have a few first graders playing rep games.

 

[RedV01]

It's a stepping stone towards higher honours like Origin or Australia. It shows they are all in the selectors line of sight and it's a nice reward for a tough season.

Hopefully they get a lot out of the experience and fingers crossed no injuries. We are going to need to get used to a lot more of our squad getting selected for various rep honours going forward if all goes according to plan.

In this case it is.

 

[Dragon David]

Over the past 10 years, from 2017 to 2026 we have had Gareth Widdop, Tariq Sims, Cam McInnes, Cam McInnes, Ben Hunt, Ben Hunt, Blake Lawrie, Jadyn Su'A, Clint Gutherson and Hamish Stewart as the Dragons Player of the Year Medalists. Lawrie and Su'A fell from grace. Gutherson running on history of leg injuries and now soon to end his career, Hunt was not a true leader, McInnes a defector, Sims now dim sim, Widdop was worthy and left us.

My feeling is that Hamish being so young will win more and will lead us one day and standout insofar as forwards are concerned. A half/back will win it next year but for the time being, 3 cheers to Hamish and handshakes to the Couchman brothers.

 

[RedV01]

Over the past 10 years, from 2017 to 2026 we have had Gareth Widdop, Tariq Sims, Cam McInnes, Cam McInnes, Ben Hunt, Ben Hunt, Blake Lawrie, Jadyn Su'A, Clint Gutherson and Hamish Stewart as the Dragons Player of the Year Medalists. Lawrie and Su'A fell from grace. Gutherson running on history of leg injuries and now soon to end his career, Hunt was not a true leader, McInnes a defector, Sims now dim sim, Widdop was worthy and left us.

My feeling is that Hamish being so young will win more and will lead us one day and standout insofar as forwards are concerned. A half/back will win it next year but for the time being, 3 cheers to Hamish and handshakes to the Couchman brothers.

Widdop was good but results matter. He was paid the big bucks to be the playmaker and never delivered. Sims had that one really good year but still surprised he beat out JDB during that year. Surprised McInnes won it. Was merely a tackling machine. Hunt like Widdop but was a total f*ckwit to boot. Blocka won it in the coldest, darkest days of the JDB saga which coincided with Friz leaving and Sims form falling off a cliff. Su'A was pretty good that year. Fair enough. Gutho tried hard but clearly doesn't have it. The decision to award him it was a political decision.

Stewart deserves it in spades. He and the two Couchman's carried the team all year. It wasn't until the last 1/4 Egan and LPT started helping them a bit. Cooky was also pretty good all year.

 

[Eric]

Widdop was good but results matter. He was paid the big bucks to be the playmaker and never delivered. Sims had that one really good year but still surprised he beat out JDB during that year. Surprised McInnes won it. Was merely a tackling machine. Hunt like Widdop but was a total f*ckwit to boot. Blocka won it in the coldest, darkest days of the JDB saga which coincided with Friz leaving and Sims form falling off a cliff. Su'A was pretty good that year. Fair enough. Gutho tried hard but clearly doesn't have it. The decision to award him it was a political decision.

Stewart deserves it in spades. He and the two Couchman's carried the team all year. It wasn't until the last 1/4 Egan and LPT started helping them a bit. Cooky was also pretty good all year.

Was that the year we thrashed Broncos in the first week of the finals? I think you'll find JDB missed a number of weeks around the middle part of the season. I remember because we started well, JDB got injured, team fell into a hole, JDB came back, team started winning again.