Ever wanted to address a coach, player or CEO directly? I have. Here is my open letter to St George Illawarra Dragons’ CEO Peter Doust.
Dear Mr Doust,
You are the longest serving CEO in the game and I hate bagging anything to do with my club, but what you have done to the Dragons over the last couple of years is completely unacceptable.
Now before I go on, you must know I’m not just placing the blame on your shoulders even though it might sound like it, but it is sure as heck true that you are the main culprit for the demise of the Dragons over the last couple of years. Surely it is time for you to stand down.
Let us begin way back, almost two years before the massive high the Dragons rode in 2010 to win the NRL premiership – their first in 31 years. At the end of the 2008 season you managed to lure the great Wayne Bennett to the club. Even if you lost Mark Gasnier at that time, Bennett’s signing was still a monumental achievement?
Even if you did manage to bring Wayne Bennett to the club, why on earth did you haggle with him about how many years to sign for? If he wanted five why not give him five? Instead you argued and haggled and made the greatest coach in the game to sign for a shorter amount of time than he wanted to.
That to me, and I’m sure nearly anyone else reading this, makes absolutely zero sense.
The 2010 success certainly distracted from a few issues of your causing. Behind the scenes during that 2010 season you managed to bring Mark Gasnier back to the club. This was the first of a long string of decisions which have hurt the Dragons deeply.
Now I understand as a Dragons fan that the Gasnier name was a huge part of the club and that there was no way he could have played anywhere else. In fact he should never have left in the first place. However, was there a need to pay him so much money over the next couple of years? Why was there a four-year contract if he only played two?
So many questions that seemingly were not thought out by you and whoever else was involved in bringing Gasnier back.
The Gasnier one was a hard situation, but it became a lot harder when salary cap pressures pushed some the best forwards the Dragons had out of the club. Jeremy Smith, Beau Scott and Neville Costigan were forced out while somehow you also let Alex Mckinnon out of the club to follow Wayne Bennett north. With these players went the Dragons size up front and the ability for the Dragons to challenge for the premiership.
So the salary cap pressure eased, Gasnier retired and the new coach Steve Price, a man that Wayne Bennett had recommended to take over at the helm of the Dragons, started his coaching career with a first up win over the Bennett-coached Newcastle Knights. Some of your recruitment decisions over the 2012 and 2013 seasons were questionable. It didn’t seem to matter that we didn’t have a lot of size up front. Nevermind, you still gave Steve Price a new contract.
Price and yourself went out and bought a bunch of new players including Gareth Widdop, Joel Thompson, Dylan Farell, Michael Witt and Sam Williams. Price proclaimed he had the team he wanted to take the Dragons back to the top and you seemed to agree with him. In short it didn’t work, Price was sacked about a year and a half too late and you are quite obviously paying a lot of players in the Dragons roster more than what they are worth. In short re-signing Price was just about the worst thing you have ever done.
Now you have signed Paul McGregor to a three-year deal. Another rookie coach, another long term deal. I am a McGregor fan don’t get me wrong but this better work for the club’s sake and for yours.
Currently the Dragons don’t have all that much size in the forwards and even though the club are rumoured to chase every forward off contract, you can’t seem to land one. Combine this with the fact that three of the club’s favourite sons Brett Morris, Jason Nightingale and Trent Merrin are rumoured to be leaving. Understandably, there is unrest among the clubs fans.
Peter Doust, something has to change at the Dragons, and at the moment it looks like it needs to be you.
Good luck in restoring the Dragons to where they were a few short years ago because if you don’t I can guarantee the calls for your head will only grow louder.
Yours sincerely,
A frustrated Dragons supporter.
Charles NSW
Guest
Ken, your comments are spot on!
Paul Zanus
Guest
Brilliant letter, it epitomizes how so many Red V fans feel. I was part of the first of many Oust Doust rally's on the weekend. We are starting small but by next seasons start we will have many more people involved and the board will be forced to listen. I'm convinced this is what the fans need to do. We need to unite and offer an alternative solution to the diabolical situation that is the management at the Dragons.
amanda
Guest
Well said buddy
Charles NSW
Guest
If you can establish the facts then you may have a case. When they let a player like Brett Morris go obviously a lot of the problem has to be a money. Why can Canterbury have a better roster and yet still be able to find money for Brett Morris.He may have a good reason but it is worth asking before attacking him.
Jacksback
Guest
A performance based assessment of the club since Doust took over in 2000 it is not too bad at an average position of 6-7 on the ladder. However the club's performance over the last three years (since the departure of Wayne Bennett) is 11-12 on the ladder. So why in the hell is Peter Doust still in the job. Peter Doust, do the honourable thing by the club and resign. The players the Dragon's have to shed to meet the salary cap is testimony to your poor management. Time to go, you are destroying our club.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thats true Charles.
Charles NSW
Guest
That is the problem Scott! A good CEO has to look at his salary cap and ensure they budget accordingly. This is why you have people groomed to step in when their star becomes too expensive.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thanks G.O. He has to go no doubt about it.
G.O
Guest
I am an accredited player agent in the NRL and I deal with these people day in and day out. As for the author of this letter. You Sir are 100% correct on every point you raised. Mr Doust is actually a very good man who means well but his decisions have always been questionable at best and somehow almost never pay off. It is time for new blood at board level at this club, but im afraid the fans will have to wait a long time. The Dragons board has become a boys club where the majority vote will never go against Doust. If the fans want change there need to be more pro active fans like yourself who make some real noise so the club has no option.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Charles, whilst yes players left because of Bennett, players like Smith and Costigan left because of salary cap pressure.
Charles NSW
Guest
It is frustrating to see the Dragons not performing as well as they should. It is easy to say Doust is the problem providing you have all the details of why we the club has not gone well. From where I sit when Nathan Brown was the coach he had a good team but was unable to get to the final step because he needed the respect from the players and the wisdom of someone more experienced. Wayne Bennett was able to do that having everything at his fingertips for him to get there. Bennett likes do it his way so must have had a big influence in the way we went. Remember many fans kept saying we need to groom a halfback for the future as Ben Hornby was soon to retire but never did. When Bennett left along went a number of players which we did not replace. I do not blame Price as he did not have the players for him to show his true potential if any. The fact is we did not buy well enough in the first place for the future!
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
I used to think the Sharks admin til recently were amateurs and they were,but are now steering the ship back on course after the ASADA debacle.Yes they made some ordinary purchases Ayshford a classic example. St George the club who were once leaders in club admin similar to the Dogs,have lost the plot.The Dragons used to source much funding from the pokies,that tap has been turned to a drip . Having made that statement,they have the "back"bone of Widdop/Marshall/Dugan.Some young forwards,and the Holden cup team finished top 4.Why not try to get Haufmann or Kurtley Txter.Morris is a huge loss,but keep Nigtingale,the guy gives his all every game. Don't know whether it is just a coincidence,but both joint venture clubs ,have had management and finance issues.Doust can only play with the cards(money/cap) he has been dealt with IMO>
Tricky Ricky
Guest
The team I support, the St George Illawarra Dragons football club and also the registered club administration to me is being run like drunken sailors with the likes of Muppet Doust and his team of cronies at the helm. Forget about the player dilemmas for 2015 just for a moment. I am concerned about the long term financial viability and future of our great club. There needs to be wholesale changes to the administration of both the football club and the registered club. Sacking Doust is the first step to guaranteeing the club's future.
Maroubranos
Guest
I guess thats why Mulholland was brought on.
Redneck
Guest
WE should sign Ben Flower and he will put some punch into the forwards but we must sack Doust first. A old saying when a tree dies it dies from the top down in other words if the man at the top is useless, useless then works its way down the line and with the dragons it is running down now So a clean sweep is now needed urgently.
Victoire
Guest
Good to see some pressure applied to Doust and the woeful mismanagement of the club... but gee this is a poorly written rant. I also find the idea of criticising the Gasnier signing stupid, since not only was Wayne Bennett in favour of it, but it actually helped win us the comp that year, ie it was a successfull signing. Shame. This article could have been so much better.
Ken
Guest
I find myself in the reluctant position of defending Doust. Reluctant because I don't believe he is any way exceptional but I also find the relentless campaign against him to be unfounded. Some things the Dragons have done during that time have worked well, some have worked OK, some have gone wrong - but I can't find any truly terrible decisions in your article. - Bennett - A huge signing with a huge price tag. If he performed at the Dragons the way he did at Newcastle we wouldn't be talking about the stupidity of signing the best coach in the league for only 3 years, we would be talking about the stupidity of paying out a huge contract for an old coach that benefited from a virtual state of origin squad for 20 years. - Price - I actually agree that this went on too long but you've got to cut the guy some slack. The team was decimated after Bennett left, Bennett wrapped him, the players seemed to respect him. They've now got Mary, and he's doing well so far but they were reluctant to sign him up and looked far and wide for another option. It seems they were looking for a proven option like Bennett and/or Bellamy but there's only a handful of those guys around. - Signings, retirings and releases. All teams struggle with this stuff, it's a dog-eat-dog world out there. Josh Morris was let go because the Dogs were offering him more money and the chance to play centre - the Dragons couldn't match either element since Gasnier and Cooper were still there and expected to be for a few years yet. Gasnier had just turned 29 when he came back, 4 years wasn't that big of a stretch for a player who had just come back from a 2 year holiday in France. In more recent times, Widdop was a great signing, Marshall looks like he's working out nicely and keeping Thompson was a good result - he was one of our best performed in the back half of the year. I highly doubt either Witt or Williams were paid much. Witt was coming back from Super League and would have been grateful for a comeback year in the NRL, Williams was a reserve grader at the Raiders. We were light on in the halves and signed a couple of roughies for depth. I guess what I'm trying to ask is, without the benefit of hindsight (or even with..), what decisions has Doust made that are so irredeemably terrible? I'm not saying he's a genius but I just don't understand the position that he's 'driven the Dragons into the ground'.
GC
Guest
I was wondering if the club needs to negotiate with the players at the Dragons and their managers, about salaries. Reduce a few big players salaries to keep valuable players (like Mez, Flo and BMoz) at our club
Scott Pryde
Expert
Fair assessment. All sounds about right.
Maroubranos
Guest
Doust and the whole Board need to go. They have been there far too long and the club needs fresh ideas & a new culture from the top. The current culture of 'jobs for the boys' has put the team in this current predicament so once the Board is overhauled they need to look closely at the management & coaching staff, imo. Placing the blame on any one player is wrong as it all starts at the top. I will be very upset to watch BMoz or Nightie leave the club instead of many other non-performing players. These two wingers saved us from the spoon this year - safe under the bomb, great defenders, great finishers and always took the ball up from our goal line while the forwards all bludged.