St George Illawarra Dragons hooker Mitch Rein ready for derby clash against Cronulla

When St George Illawarra run onto Shark Park on Sunday to face their fierce local rivals Cronulla, the Dragons hooker is likely to stop and take in the moment.

The noise, the hatred, the fire.

And he will lap it up.

The 25-year-old is a veteran of the Red V these days, making 109 appearances for the club since making his debut in 2011.

His impressive form over the last two seasons even saw him come into State of Origin calculations for game three last year.

Rein told The Leader the local derby was as important to the players as it is to Dragons fans.

“When I first started playing I was a Steelers boy so being further away maybe it was a bit different,” he said.

“But now, after talking to people and playing them you get it.

“The last couple of times we’ve played them there’s been a bit of niggle.

“We got them at [Jubilee Oval] and then they got us up there and we don’t want that again.”

Rein is confident the Dragons have a squad strong enough to improve on the club’s eighth-placed finish last season.

“It seems like we’ve been written off again, I don’t know why,” he said.

“You look through our team and it’s strong everywhere.

“I don’t see why we can’t go better again.”

St George Illawarra suffered a heavy 28-8 loss in their trip to Shark Park in round 18 last season in the middle of a disappointing run of seven straight defeats.

The Sharks match is part of a tricky trio of opening games for the Dragons who, after facing the Storm in Melbourne last Monday night, follow the derby with a clash against South Sydney at the SCG.

Kick-off is at 4pm.

See page 54 for more of The Leader’s derby coverage.