St George Illawarra Dragons winger Jonathon Reuben has become the oldest NRL debutant in history after getting his first taste of the top grade in their 31-12 loss to the Cowboys on Friday night.
At 29 years of age, Reuben has now jumped former Dragons halfback Darren Nicholls as the oldest debutant, which he held since Round 17 in 2018.
While Reuben has taken the long road, he’s been one of the most successful wingers in the Queensland Cup competition for many years, scoring an impressive 107 tries from 106 games from 2015-2021.
In a bid to fulfil his dream of playing NRL, Reuben made the switch to the Dragons from Norths Devils after winning a premiership with them in 2021. Reuben has previously been contracted to Canberra Raiders and Sydney Roosters and despite never getting an opportunity in first grade, the hard-running winger’s perseverance has finally paid off.
Since joining the Dragons for the 2022 season, Reuben has played nine games in The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup, scoring four tries, including a hat-trick against Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles in Round Six to go alongside 12 tackle busts, seven linebreaks and an average of 122 running metres per game.
Although the Dragons were unable to get the job done against an in-form Cowboys side, Reuben looked like scoring a dream try on debut after he took an intercept that saw him flying down the left wing. Unfortunately for Reuben, the Cowboys defence turned up in numbers to deny him an NRL four-pointer.
