Kezie Apps has been announced as one of the first signings for the St George Illawarra Dragons ahead of the 2019 NRL Women's season.
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Apps is one of nine players announced for the club on Friday and among five players who will make a repeat appearance in the Red V.
All nine players will represent New South Wales at the Women's State of Origin on Friday, June 21 at North Sydney Oval.
"It's a great way to get the ball rolling for the Dragons ahead of the second season of the Women's Premiership. There's been a lot of hard work done behind the scenes with more time and preparation. We as a staff had a clear mind of what the squad needed to look like as a result," Dragons Women's Premiership coach Daniel Lacey said.
"We are really happy with the way we have started with these nine players. Our focus still remains on the Dragons' women's pathway too. We are really proud with how it has come along, and are still focused on developing our juniors into NRL players."
The re-signings of fan-favourites Apps, Wheeler, Sergis and Tungai will help reinforce and further build the positive culture established in the club's inaugural Women's Premiership campaign.
"It's awesome to have the four of them recommit to the Dragons. They were a big part of our team last year and they have played a big part in the club planning for the future," Lacey said.
"We were always going to re-sign the players we thought could duplicate the job from 2018. Holli was the Dragons' inaugural Women's Player of the Year, Kezie stood up as captain when Sam (Bremner) was injured while Jess and Shak have kicked on with confidence and the benefits they received from playing at the Dragons last year."
Apps said it was great to see existing players return as it would lend to the club culture at the Dragons and build the bonds within the club.
"It's exciting because we get to spend more time trogether and it's just going to build on last year," Apps said.
"We just want to continue what we started and build from there."
Apps said the competition was something of an unknown last year, but after a blowout succcess, she was eager to see what this year's premiership draw would offer.
The Dragons now have 13 spots to fill before the September competition.
Meanwhile, ahead of her opening Origin clash - where she will team up with Cobargo's Millie Boyle - Apps was in Bega on Saturday as ambassador to Bega Valley Toyota.
Fans were able to go for a test drive in the new Toyota Rav 4, while those too young for a licence got some photo opportunities and signatures from the headline star.