Mathew and Max Feagai and Ryan and Toby Couchman will make history on Saturday afternoon against the Rabbitohs at Cairns’ Barlow Park when they become the first two sets of twins to appear in the same NRL game.
The Feagai twins have played alongside each other on four occasions at NRL level whilst the Couchman twins will run out together for the first time this weekend.
Max made his NRL debut as a teenager off the bench against the Knights back in Round 19, 2020.
Mathew joined him in the top grade the following season scoring a try in a 32-12 Round 9 win against the Bulldogs at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium whilst donning the club’s ‘blood and bandages’ jersey paying tribute to the inaugural St George Dragons team of 1921.
Dragons fans got their first sight of the Couchman twins in the side’s season opener against the Titans in March with Toby earning a debut after impressing in preseason before Ryan was rewarded with an NRL debut last week against the Eels at CommBank Stadium off the back of a stellar Knock On Effect NSW Cup campaign.
Toby Couchman on making his NRL debut
Ryan was elated upon realising his dream and becoming Dragon #268 over the weekend.
“It was definitely a day that I’ll never forget,” he said.
“It was unreal. It was everything that I expected and more. I loved it… We would’ve loved to have won the game, but I think, as a side, we put a pretty competitive performance on and definitely a lot of positives to take.”
'You are playing buddy' Ryan Couchman gets his NRL debut news
His second NRL game will have an added level of pride for he and his family with twin Toby named alongside him on the interchange.
“It’s pretty surreal. I’ve grown up playing all my life with Toby from the backyard all the way through,” he said.
“It’s a dream come true to be able to play an NRL game with him, so really looking forward to it. All the family’s excited too. It means a lot to everybody in the family.”
Sharing the moment with the Feagai twins also adds some grandeur to the occasion for him but he admits it may not be an easy task for callers.
“I think they’re going to have to rely on the numbers. Maybe different coloured boots or something this weekend,” he laughed.
“It’s cool. Both the Feagai boys are great players and excited to share the field with those guys as well.”
'Different colour boots', Ryan Couchman offers a solution to tell the twins apart
Saturday afternoon’s clash also marks the first Cairns trip in club history with the Dragons eager to put a dent in the Rabbitohs’ finals hopes.
“They’re a good side and we’re going to expect them to play a bit of footy at us. They’ve got some really quality players… The obvious ones are guys like Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell,” Ryan said.
“I’m sure we’re just going to have a focus on ourselves and look at what we can do and prepare best we can to go out there and get a win… I think the main focus is going to be on ourselves this week and looking to improve on what we’ve been doing. The last couple of weeks have been really competitive performances and have had a couple of unlucky calls against us but all the boys are really excited.”
