Throughout the 2023 season, the St. George Illawarra Dragons lurched from one catastrophe to the next, and as the off-season progresses, many concerns remain unresolved.
The Red V had several off-field problems and remarks during a season in which a coach was fired, the finals were missed once more, and the captain requested a release.
The club’s fans endured a difficult season, and while Shane Flanagan’s hiring offers some hope for the future, the board must take a hard look back to make sure the same mistakes aren’t repeated under pressure from a fan base that doesn’t tolerate failure.
An early dismissal that ought to have occurred in the preseason
This goes all the way back to the beginning of the 2022 season, when the Dragons’ board chose to make the same mistakes again by exercising an option for Anthony Gryphon to continue leading the team into the 2023 season.
Despite not having any runs in the bank and no teams pursuing him, the Dragons renewed Paul McGregor’s contract extremely early in a season when he was playing for them.
That decision completely backfired.
Therefore, from the middle of Kogarah, you could see the eye roll on the Wollongong hill when the Dragons accepted Griffin’s option following one season that was much below average and a season in which no balls were kicked.
It was such a blatantly bad decision, and 2022 showed it. 2023 got off to a similarly terrible start. Despite Ben Hunt’s statements about his personal future if Gryphon were awarded the punt, the team appeared to have given up and had no intention of playing for Gryphon.
When Gryphon was fired by the team in the middle of the season, the bandage was ultimately removed, but it should have been done before the season started.
In the end, a board’s failure to learn from prior errors led to a decision made at the beginning of 2022 that also cost the 2023 season.
Despite the roster adjustments Shane Flanagan has already been able to make for 2024, it is debatable how long it will take the joint venture to recover from Griffin’s three-year tenure.
Early chances are ruined by a tremendous hooking issue and a horrible centre swap.
Keeping with the coaching theme, several of the early-season puzzles may have lost the Dragons actual results and competition points.
It was puzzling, to put it mildly, that Jacob Liddle was flatly refused more playing time than Moses Mbye.
Early in the season, Zero Tackle data showed that the Dragons were a far better team with Liddle on the pitch than Mbye. Despite this, the off-season acquisition didn’t receive the majority of the playing time at dummy half until Gryphon left.
Liddle gave the Dragons an advantage on both the offensive and defensive ends of the field, not just one. Anzac Day marked the culmination of events.]
Associated: Our investigation from April 27
Then there were the problems with Zac Lomax and Moses Suli changing sides. That culminated when Gryphon ultimately sacked Lomax, only for interim coach Ryan Carr to call him back.
While they were on the incorrect side of the park, both players showed regression in practically every statistical category.
The Dragons’ demise in 2023 was likely sealed by neither action, which ultimately made little sense.
