'I owe them a lot': How mates helped Hayden realise NRL dream

Dragons rookie Hayden Buchanan has revealed how fellow Gerringong products Dylan Egan and Hamish Stewart were a driving factor in his journey to the NRL - literally.

Buchanan, who will make his second NRL appearance against the Warriors on Friday night, is the third Gerringong junior to debut for the Dragons this season after Egan and Stewart.

As the youngest of the trio, the now 19-year-old centre had to rely on them for a lift to training when they were first identified by the club as future NRL stars.

“I owe a lot of this to them," said Buchanan, who scored a try on debut.

"Dylan, when I was 16 and didn’t have a license, drove me to every single academy session. We are very close and I really owe them both a lot.”

The 19-year-old centre joined Egan, who is out with a knee injury, and Stewart as Gerringong Lions juniors to have made their NRL debut for St George Illawarra this season.

With Ashton Ward also debuting for South Sydney, there are now eight Gerringong players in the NRL - Manly's Reuben Garrick, Melbourne's Tyran Wishart, Warriors forward Jackson Ford and Newcastle's Kyle McCarthy being the others.

“Both Reuben and Tyran reached out to me and said, ‘congrats mate, play your best, do your best’. To get messages from them, that was really special," Buchanan said.

"It means a lot coming from someone you’ve admired for a long time and look up to, so it's really good.”

Scott Stewart, the father of Hamish, who is the Wellbeing and Facility Manager at the Red V, coaches the Lions with Johnny Ford and has played an instrumental role in the latest crop of Gerringong talent in the NRL.

Eels legend Mick Cronin, who helped the club to four premierships in the 1980s, is credited with being the inspiration for those who followed him from the small South Coast town to the big league.

"People like Scotty Stewart, Johnny Ford, Mick Cronin ... from a young age they instil a certain level of discipline, toughness and competitive nature that it just follows through,” Buchanan said. 

“People like Nathan Ford and Rixon Russell are still currently playing first grade, they’ve won seven comps down there.

"They’ve brought Hamish, Dylan, myself, Ashton (Ward) - the four people to debut this year from the club - through and that’s why we are who we are.”

Stewart told Buchannan before his debut at Jubilee Stadium: "I’m so proud of you mate, just back yourself and do your thing, you deserve it, you worked hard to play alongside Hamish and hopefully eventually one day Dylan too".

Reflecting on his late call-up to first grade and a try on debut, Buchannan had mixed emotions. 

“Its been amazing, such a rollercoaster. I've been calm, I've been frantic, but it's really good to have it done and honestly a bit of relief. I'm just happy we got the win," he said.

"It’s so special, I’ve been here since I was 15, I grew up in the area, the club’s done so much for me with the academy and everything. I can’t really put it into words to be honest, it's really special.”