Wales Dragonhearts begin their 2025 campaign this Saturday with a home game against Ireland Wolfhounds at The Lextan Gnoll in Neath (kick-off 2pm).
It’s the first of four matches to be played by the Dragonhearts this year, and like their senior side, they’ll face the Irish twice, the return leg being at Castleford Panthers on the morning of Saturday 1st November, ahead of the senior’s clash at Featherstone Rovers later that day.
They will also face Scotland A at Leigh Sports Village on Saturday 11th October before both sides go to the Super League Grand Final, with another Neath date a week later against South of England Lionhearts.
Wales Dragonhearts’ coach Simon Reynolds has named a 28-player squad for all four matches which includes 16 potential debutants. The first side will be named tomorrow ahead of the Ireland encounter.
Reynolds said: “Since the first squad release, we have had players pull out of the squad due to injury and unavailability, so we have been hard at work over the past month to get the squad ready, but that’s the nature of the beast when you have a team that is still playing week in week out.
“Tomorrow we start on a journey together with plenty of debuts to give, and more caps given to experienced players. We are in this together.”
Saturday’s match will be the 16th encounter between the Dragonhearts and the Wolfhounds with Wales winning 10 of the previous 15, the most recent game being a 28-16 victory for Wales in 2023. It will be 98th meeting between Wales and Ireland in all levels of international rugby league.
Tickets for the two matches in Neath can be bought at https://wrl.wales/tickets.
Dragonhearts Squad: Ieuan Allen*, Lloyd Allen, Liam Evans*, Owen Evans*, Rhys Evans*, Lewis Francis, Ben Jackson, Alan Pope, Rhodri Roberts*, Sean Waldeck*, Dan Wilds* (all Aberavon Fighting Irish), Chad George*, Llewellyn Hawkes, Owen Thomas* (all Bridgend Blue Bulls), Rob Davies*, Kurtis Haile, Brandon Lamb (all Bristol All Golds), Ellis O’Grady*, Nathan Tucker (Cardiff Blue Dragons), Sion Jones, Raymond Lear (both Chester Gladiators), Ryan Price-Jones (Clock Face Miners), Lewis Harris*, Calum Jones* (both Rhondda Outlaws), Jack Hodder*, Johnathan Reid* (both South Wales Jets), Brad Llewellyn (Thornhill Trojans), Tom Spedding* (Ulverston).
Wales Dragonhearts would like to thank the following sponsors for supporting them in 2025…
MH Travel
MH Travel North Wales specialises in coach hire, day trips and tours, as well as airport transfers and corporate hospitality.
JES GROUP
JES has over 35 years’ experience within the mechanical engineering industry servicing clients throughout the UK. Relationship building is key to our business and this is testament to our great client retention, reflecting the professionalism of the management staff and workforce alike.
Apex Mouthguards North Wales
A company that pride themselves in technical expertise and cutting edge technology. Their passion is to make elite level mouthguards available for everyone, not just the elite. Custom made mouthguards are available for athletes of all age ranges and can be tailored to your mouth, your sport and your preferred design.
DKCC Ltd – Specialist Masonary Contractors
A company with excellent bricklayers,great managers, excellent working conditions,great people to work with and a high standard of brickwork
Nutrapreps
At NutraPrep’s your goals are our passion. We understand that each individual is different and that’s why we have created the most goal-focussed meal prep solution available today. We use only fresh, locally sourced ingredients to produce healthy, restaurant-quality meals and deliver them to your door. Whether you want to lose fat, build muscle or simply improve your overall health, we have the perfect package for you. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be a chore.
