The emergence of a talented young forward pack to return St George Illawarra Dragons to winning ways has been the one bright spark in a season where little has gone right for the Red V.

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One of those talented young forwards the Dragons are relying on in the future is Toby Couchman, who brings up his 50^th NRL game on Sunday when St George Illawarra battle the Broncos in Brisbane.

Toby Coouchman will play his 50th game for St George Illawarra Dragons on Sunday against the Brisbane Broncos. Picture by Agron Latifi

There have been more downs than ups on the field for the Dragons since the Thirroul Butchers junior made his debut against the Gold Coast Titans in round two of the 2023 season.

But Couchman was adamant he was loving representing his beloved Dragons.

"I always knew that through hard work I'd get here, and I am proud to get to 50 games," Couchman said.

"There have been a lot of tough times, my team has not been going so well, and I've been through three coaches now.

"It's been a few tough times, but loving it every day, love coming in, and I am proud to get to 50 games."

The 22-year-old Couchman progressed through the Dragons' pathways system alongside identical twin Ryan.

Couchman represented the NSW under-19s Origin side in 2022 and spent the following preseason training with St George Illawarra's NRL squad.

Having been upgraded to an NRL deal before the 2023 season kick-off, he made his NRL debut as a teenager off the bench in the side's season opener at Jubilee.

He went on to play 15 games for the Red V as a rookie scoring a pair of tries and taking home the club's Geoff Selby Memorial Trophy for NRL Emerging Talent.

Couchman said making his debut for the Dragons was one of his career highlights, as was sharing the NRL field for the first time with twin brother Ryan against the Rabbitohs in round 24, 2023.

In that same game, Mathew and Max Feagai also played, becoming the first set of twins to appear in the same first-grade game.

"The [memorable] ones that stick out for me, definitely the debut versus the Titans at Jubilee, and later that year, my first game with Ryan at Cairns versus the Rabbitohs," Couchman said.

"Now and then I'll just think back to [our journey]. It's pretty cool sometimes when we're out there playing together in the NRL. I've played together with him since I was six, for the Butchers, so, yeah, sometimes it is like we're doing what we love and on the big stage. It feels surreal, but most of the time you don't really think of it and just get on with the job.

"And then the three Anzac Day games I've got to play, that's always a special day, results have been quite disappointing, but the opportunity to represent the club on that occasion is something that I don't take for granted and cherish every year."

In 10 outings this season, Couchman has averaged 139 run metres and tallied 409 tackles at 97 per cent efficiency, having grown into a pillar of the side's pack.

Toby Couchman in action for St George Illawarra Dragons against Melbourne Storm at WIN Stadium on March 14, 2026. Picture by Adam McLean.

The 22-year-old is part of the talented crop of young forwards St George Illawarra interim head coach Dean Young has put his faith in to arrest a 15-game losing streak stretching back to August 9, 2025.

"Deano's been great, he's instilled a lot of confidence in us, but we just gotta go out and keep doing the job," Couchman said.

"I do feel like I'm getting better every year, obviously last year it got cut short with the shoulder reco, but I feel like I've improved from that again this year, and hopefully just keep improving."

The Dragons have lost 11 games straight to start 2026, heading into the round 13 stoush in Brisbane against the Broncos.

This time last year, the Red V made the journey to Suncorp Stadium to face the Broncos and pulled off a memorable upset with Clint Gutherson and Tyrell Sloan both nabbing doubles.

Couchman said the Dragons had not talked about that win this week.

"We haven't mentioned that. It's a new season, new team. All our focus so far has just been on training and getting ourselves right and getting our game plan right to go and give us the best shot on Sunday," he said.

"It's hard, obviously the win is what we're chasing, but you can't really focus on the result, you need to focus on the process that'll get you the result.

"It's weird, I've been going into games thinking we're going to win, it's just not happening for us at the moment, but we are training as hard as we can, and if we keep doing that, I'm sure it'll come.

"It's been tough on our fans, and I want to thank them for sticking with us.

"We're trying, we're ripping in, and I'm sure things will turn, but we appreciate you guys still turning up.

"We had a fan day here earlier in the week, and they showed up in numbers.

"It does feel pretty special to have the support of the fans when you're not going well. We definitely notice it and we're trying our best to turn it around for them."

Sunday's game against the Brisbane Broncos kicks off at 2pm.