Huge set back: Dragons hires Shane Flanagan As HC After been fired by Dragons ownership today for…
Gorden Tallis has called on the Dragons playing group to take greater responsibility for off-field dramas amid suggestions the club has already begun talks in appointing a new coach.
It was a season to forget on and off the field for St. George Illawarra last year and the Dragons have already found themselves in the headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2023.
First, Mikaele Ravalawa and Zane Musgrove were both handed breach notices and fined after a heated exchange the morning after the team’s 42-24 Charity Shield defeat to South Sydney.
Then later in the week Francis Molo pleaded guilty to a domestic violence related charge, which may see the forward stood down under the NRL’s no-fault stand-down policy.
It follows news earlier last month that playmaker Talatau Amone had been stood down after being charged over an alleged attack on a roofing contractor in December, 2022.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald’s Andrew Webster, the Dragons have already identified a leading replacement should Griffin be moved on by the club.
“I know for a fact that there is interest at board level for Jason Ryles,” he said on SEN 1170 Mornings.
“… He’s a Wollongong junior, he played a lot of football there and was a proud Dragons player for a lot of years. He’d be great.”
But Tallis has gone in to bat for Griffin, claiming the incident in Mudgee is only further proof that hiring a new coach will not solve all of the team’s problems.
“Was there a barbecue-gate in the middle of Covid? Did they break protocol? Did they go to the presentation [awards night]? And now this,” he said on Triple M.
“There’s three strikes and in baseball you’re out. The players need to take ownership of that club. It’s really hard to turn over a roster so the quickest way they do it is turning over a coach.
“They turned over Wayne Bennett… Steve Price, Paul McGregor and now they’re talking about Anthony Griffin. Don’t think that those four guys are the problem
