Phil Gould warns Dragons to 'be very careful' after club's youngsters handed reality check
Phil Gould has warned the Dragons to "be very careful" with how they bring their young players into the system as the club continues to search for its first win of the season.
The Dragons were on the end of a 62-16 Anzac Day defeat against the Roosters which featured debutant Kade Reed while young prop Loko Pasifiki Tonga made his return too.
The side that played against the Roosters featured recent club juniors like Jacob Halangahu, the Couchman brothers and Hamish Stewart in a sign there are positives within the club's pathways system.
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Kade Reed. NRL Imagery
But Gould - who masterminded Penrith's incredibly junior nursery - says the Dragons have to protect the youngsters.
"The club's got to be very careful with these young Dragons players. They are very talented," he said on Nine's Anzac Day coverage.
"They've got to make this good experience for them and not bad experience. There's nothing more intimidating than being out there in the NRL arena when you're on the end of scorelines like this and you're eight games in and haven't won a game. It can be bad experience.
"It's up to the coaches and club to protect them and make sure it's good experience and building them for the future and they're not getting intimidated by it, they're not getting daunted by it or getting stress from it."
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Reed showed promise for the Dragons after Dean Young's first decision as interim head coach was to bring him in for Kyle Flanagan.
The 20-year-old threw a brilliant cut-out pass early in what looked like the first try of the match but it was eventually ruled out due to a knock-on.
The halfback did have deficiencies in defence, which was to be expected considering his slight frame. Overall, he had six missed tackles.
Gould said Reed, among the other inexperienced players, were "getting a front-row seat" to first-grade rugby league.
"All of a sudden you find out, you know what, we're not the best around," he said.
"There's a long way to go once you get to the NRL to understand what it's all about. As punishing as these Roosters have been, they've all been through it themselves."
