It wouldn’t be the start of the NRL season without Dragons fans being filled with optimism and hope for the season ahead.
You can’t blame them though, can you?
Coach Paul McGregor has put together a fairly decent St George Illawarra side over the last couple of seasons and had it not been for injuries you might’ve tipped them to go all the way last year.
But with the spine of the team set for a major shake-up, can they bring the premiership back to Kogarah?
The Dragons added former Eels five-eighth Corey Norman to their roster in the off-season and his arrival has caused a bit of a re-shuffle in their starting line-up.
McGregor has taken a gamble and moved star player Gareth Widdop to fullback to accommodate Norman’s arrival.
This a risky change to make considering that Widdop is one of the team’s best players and their attack can be quite flat at times without him.
We have seen in the past that players like Ben Hunt, for example, can look quite lost without his leadership.
It seems strange to move one of your most vital players out of his best position to make way for a new signing.
Widdop has proved time and time again how crucial he is to the Dragons’ set-up and fans have been left puzzled by this decision from McGregor.
Let’s look at the numbers.
Both Widdop and Norman scored four tries last season whilst Norman averaged more tackles per game at 15.48 compared to Widdop’s 13.81.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Widdop recorded more try assists last season at 18 whilst Norman was not far behind at 14.
All of this must be considered with the fact that Norman was playing in a struggling Parramatta side last year.
So who deserves the five-eighth spot more?
On one hand it makes sense. Widdop will be leaving the Dragons at the end of the season to head back to England and it seems like a good idea that they’ve brought in a replacement nice and early and are now trying to settle him in to the team.
With Widdop being moved to fullback, this has left Matthew Dufty relegated to the bench.
Dufty wasn’t perfect for the Dragons last year but he definitely showed promising signs in his debut season for the Saints and at the age of 23 he can only get better.
But how is he supposed to improve his game and fulfill his potential if he is sitting on the bench and not even getting a go?
St George Illawarra fell to the Cowboys 24-12 in Round 1 and many fans will point to this change in the team as the reason to why their team was so disappointing.
Others will say that the team simply needs time to gel and adjust to this new change.
What do you think? Is Norman good enough to fill Widdop’s boots? Should Dufty be brought back into the side?
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