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No place for Mary in the Dragons' rebuild

4th August, 2016
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Paul McGregor says finals are still on the Dragons' agenda.. (AAP Image/ Action Photographics, Robb Cox)
Roar Guru
4th August, 2016
7
1114 Reads

Whether the Dragons are prepared to acknowledge it or not, after the loss to the Broncos, 2016 is now gone. If they have acknowledged it, then now would be the time to blood new players.

I tipped them to do well this year, but I was wrong.

Paul McGregor has been far too reluctant to test the depths of the Dragons’ NSW and Holden Cup sides. ‘Mary’ has been slow to recognise obvious talent and experiment in attack, despite obvious deficiencies which were bad in 2015 but that have now left the team almost entirely without confidence.

Accordingly, although Mary has tried hard, both the defence and attack have gone backwards. Whether it is Mary’s fault or not, the Dragons should be in the hunt for a new coach to revive what has been a terminally boring attack.

Now, I am a Benji Marshall fan, and I am sure he has a lot to give the game in the future as a commentator and coach, but 2016 was a disjointed year with injuries for the former Kiwi captain, and his body is not getting any younger.

If Benji is not on the agenda for 2017, then now is the time to test the club’s depth. But when Benji has been unavailable, McGregor has been stubbornly using Josh McCrone, whose capabilities and limitations should are obvious.

McGregor dropped one of his best performers, Euan Aitken, and persisted too long with his Bulldogs recruit, Tim Lafai, despite ordinary performances.

The beginning of the season also saw McGregor’s failed experiment with Josh Dugan in the centres when there were plenty of experienced centres in the squad.

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Taane Milne has been used in the centre with great success, and second rower Luciano Leilua showed great promise in his NRL debut against the Broncos, but this is too little too late.

Testing young players now, with the season gone, is a guide to 2017 and any players requiring medical treatment should be released to have a good start next season.

The Dragons have for the most part been committed, and there is certainly a core group of players to build a team around, but McGregor is not the man to do the building.

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