Dragons face significant overhaul if club is to emerge from NRL mediocrity

S t George Illawarra have sacked head coach Anthony Griffin after a dire two-and-a-half season tenure. It started with the tepid enthusiasm a recycled coach typically brings and ended with a long march to the inevitable, marked by bizarre selection decisions and mounting losses.

The writing was on the wall for Griffin when the club announced in mid-March that it would undertake an open interview process for the head coaching role in 2024. Griffin would be welcome to reapply for the job – a highly unusual decision to search for a new coach without officially putting a line through the incumbent.

The Dragons opened the season with a home win over the Titans but a second half capitulation against the Broncos a week later saw the dominos begin to fall. In his final nine games, Griffin’s Dragons posted just a single win. Six straight defeats, including a humiliating 42-22 loss to North Queensland in Ben Hunt’s 300th game, proved too much for the Dragons board.

Griffin went 22-36 in his 58 games with St George Illawarra. Under his tutelage, the Dragons finished 11th and 10th and he leaves with the team anchored in 16th spot.

Such a mediocre return continues the underwhelming seven seasons Paul McGregor had at the helm. Recycled coaches – those on their second or later job who have not achieved any premiership success – rarely succeed in turning around the fortunes of a club. History has not been kind to Griffin either, with the Broncos reaching the grand final the year after his four-season run at the Broncos ended and the Panthers reaching three deciders, winning two premierships, in the four years after he was sacked by Penrith.

In his first season in charge, the Dragons had their worst defensive season in their history,