Amos Roberts is relishing the opportunity to face his old side in the colours of Wigan in Sunday's World Club Challenge.
Finch plays down weather conditions as a factor
Former St George Illawarra winger Amos Roberts is relishing the opportunity to face his old side in the colours of Wigan in Sunday's World Club Challenge at the DW Stadium.
The 30-year-old Australian has fond memories of his time with the Dragons, his first professional club, where he scored 29 tries in 65 appearances before moving on to Penrith and Sydney Roosters and arriving in England just over two years ago.
Roberts made his seasonal debut against Bradford on Sunday after sitting out Millennium Magic due to the birth of his son and, after marking his comeback with a brace of tries, is eagerly anticipating Sunday's mouth-watering duel with Wayne Bennett's team.
"It's two of the biggest teams in rugby league coming head to head, it's going to be a great spectacle," said Roberts, who is looking forward to renewing some old friendships.
"They have one of the greatest coaches of all time in Wayne Bennett and they're a great team. They don't give much away and work really hard for each other.
"I played with them for three years and half the team is still there. I used to play outside Mark Gasnier, Benny Hornby was the full-back and Matty Cooper was the centre with Gaz (Gasnier).
"Dean Young and Benny Creagh were coming through back then and I played with Jamie Soward at the Roosters."
Weather-factor
Meanwhile, Roberts' Wigan team-mate Brett Finch, a two-time winner of world club titles with Melbourne a year ago and Sydney Roosters in 2003, is playing down the weather-factor.
The Dragons have had to contend with heatwave conditions in their preparations Down Under but Finch, who will miss the game with a neck injury, believes they will have little trouble dealing with the depths of an English winter.
"Certainly coming over from Australia to a different climate and different conditions is tough but the Dragons players will handle it," he said.
"Getting a win is a great achievement and something the Australians take very seriously. It's also very important to the English clubs and certainly for Wigan.
"Wigan have a great history in the competition, having defeated Brisbane and also Manly in the past, and the players are all looking forward to adding to that when they play St George."
