The Toronto Dragons were fortunate enough this season to have loads of skill come to the club from across the pond. They did some significant damage on the field while wearing the Dragons jersey and wore in proudly. Here are our three player profiles from this seasons visiting players.

Liam Trudgeon, an experienced 29 year-old English front row player hailing from St. Ives Cornwall has loved every second in Canada. While staying here Liam has indulged in some great Canadian cuisine. Besides the Canadian Lager, Liam said he enjoyed the classic poutine from our sponsor pub A Dark Horse. When asked who his favourite teammate was during his time here, Liam said that it had to be fellow new comer, Dorian Ferrera, who isn’t as much of a foreigner but has his home roots from Sarnia Ontario. Over the past few months of being here, we asked Liam what could have been his favourite moment during his stay, playing for the Toronto Dragons. He said that while here, he very much enjoyed the bus ride home from the Dragons game in Coburg. “The amount of memories packed into 2 hours on a school bus with a bunch of Canadians is a couple hours I will not forget!” We asked Liam for one last thing he would like to say to the club after being a part of the dragons for the 2018 season, “It’s been a blast, worst case Ontario, I’ll be back for round two.”

Our second overseas player who came to stay with us this summer at the Dragons was 24 year-old Richard Hadfield. Richard came from his home town of Brighton, just south of London England. You may know him as Britain’s Got Talent winner of 2014. Richard had multiple gigs throughout his stay in Toronto, with the Jazz Bistro and Yonge and Dundas being a highlight. Richard’s favourite Canadian food during his stay was our not so famous chicken wings. Particularly enjoying wings of the spice variety. Though meeting many teammates throughout his stay, scrum-half Gregory Hovesen was one he said made him feel very welcome from the first day of training. Finally, after sharing many great moments with the Dragons, Richard’s favourite moment was the teams pride theme pub crawl. To add to that, one of the men’s side’s, Antoine Blanc, shaved his beard, with only his moustache remaining, and dressed up as Freddy Mercury. As Richard had an incredible time off the field, his on field performance was tremendous. In the six games he was active, he was able to score three tries and assist many more. He was a great asset for the club and we wish him the very best back home.

Our third player from overseas was Richard Hadfield’s younger brother James Hadfield who had just turned 21 years-old. Just like Richard, James’ home town is Brighton England. He goes to the university of Bath and plays for the academy team of the pro premiership side. When asked about who his favourite teammate of the Dragons was, he had a very boring response in saying his brother. On the other hand, he has enjoyed playing with every member of the team and felt very welcome from the first day out. During his stay in Toronto, James enjoyed many different placed to eat, but what he truly enjoyed was Osmow’s Shawarma wraps. Although many memories were made, James’ favourite moment during his stay was during their final send-off night at fellow teammates, Adam Kennedy’s apartment, where a party was held for all three Englishmen. As James heads back home, he begins training for his pre-season play with his university side starting up in August. We wish him all the best in his next season of rugby.

From the Toronto Dragons, to Liam, Richard, and James, we thank you and all the best!

Written By: Gregory Hovesen & Dorian Ferrera