Despite what you may think of the coach, you can’t blame him for the 2019 season.
The Dragons’ season was hijacked before it began by the off-field distractions surrounding Jack de Belin’s court case. The no-fault stand-down introduced in response to this combined with De Belin’s subsequent decision to fight it in court was the worst possible result for the team.
If De Belin had have been allowed to play, things may have returned to business as usual. If De Belin had accepted the decision, the Dragons could have moved on. While I don’t begrudge De Belin fighting the decision, challenging the NRL ensured the distractions continued throughout the season.
However, the team’s tale of woe did not end there. They lost captain and key playmaker Gareth Widdop early and for most of their season, and injuries to key players continued to punctuate the year.
St George can’t possibly have the same off-field dramas disrupting the 2020 season as they did 2019.
(Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
One 2019 issue that you can blame on the coach was a lack of cohesion among the spine. Paul McGregor was playing silly buggers with his spine early on. Matthew Dufty would come off the bench to fullback. This would push Widdop from fullback to the halves and Ben Hunt from the halves to hooker, with Cameron McInnes finally vacating the hooking role for the bench or back row.
No doubt this would have made it difficult to develop any continuity among the playing group. Just when Widdop’s injury looked likely to put an end to this, Corey Norman also got injured, ensuring further changes to the spine. Norman returned later in the season to play at fullback instead of five-eighth, meaning this discontinuity remained for the entire year.
Despite Widdop leaving the spine for 2020, on paper at least the team stacks up against any in the competition. McInness was the team’s one shining light in 2019 and is one of the better hookers going around. Norman and Hunt are two State of Origin representative halves. Both are fine players, even if their abilities don’t quite match their salaries.
After being anointed ‘the gifted one’ by Brad Fittler, Zac Lomax failed to live up to the hype, shifting between wing and centre last year. However, I look forward to seeing what he can produce in his favoured fullback position this year. Issac Luke, Tristan Sailor and Dufty provide plenty of depth of reasonable quality, though hopefully this first-choice spine has the chance to gel.
The forward pack is another strength for the Dragons. Tyson Frizell and Tariq Sims give the Dragons a pair of edge backrowers comparable with the best in the tournament. Australian representative Paul Vaughan is their leading middle forward. Though past their best, James Graham and Trent Merrin remain two quality players, while the likes of Blake Lawrie, Jackson Ford, Jacob Host and Josh Kerr will be better with the experience of last year.
Their backline in recent times has been hugely disappointing. Timoteo Lafai and Euan Aitken have at different times in their careers looked like world-beaters and park footballers. It remains unknown what they will produce this year, but surely a decent spine playing behind a quality forward pack should give them enough time and space to show their best.
Jordan Pereira will likely take one wing spot. He will do his job – nothing more, nothing less. The other wing will likely be filled by Jason Saab, but he will need to outperform Mikaele Ravalawa and Sailor this preseason to secure the position. A towering excitement machine who can outcompete any opponent in the air, Jason Saab only needs to add a bit of work rate coming out of his own end to be the complete package as a winger.
Most fans are highly critical of coach McGregor, and perhaps rightly so given his results. He has, however, shown the ability to have his team firing in the past only to badly fade late in the season. Given the strengths of the team I see no reason why he can’t get this side firing again early this season.
Norman holds the key. He left Paramatta with a point to prove, and a return to form by him will help those outside him return to their best also. Should this happen, and should the club address any remaining mental demons when things get tough midseason, there is no reason the Dragons can’t put themselves in the mix to be playing finals football.
Bill
Guest
Get Toovey.
Wundaluce
Roar Rookie
I agree with your comments Steve and disagree with Greg...it is no coincidence that the Dragons last won under a non-oldboy coach. post Bennett, the Dragons needed a coach from outside the club...Maguire would have been perfect!! I expect the Dragons to wallow again this season until Flanaghan is given the head coaching imprimatur. Appointing Mary (much as I like the guy!!) was a huge mistake. And his handling of the DeBelin debacle (and his public comments) were ill considered (and obviously lacking in any knowledge and understanding of the psychological dimension of this great game); he simply handed his underperforming players a psychological crutch; how the centres (Lafai & Aitken) were not booted down to reserves is a mystery to me; Dragons also need to bring in a legend eg Cronk (and pay him what he deserves) to work with Norman, Hunt, McInnes & Dufty (to deputise for Hunt at SOO time) on game management...they could be one of the best 'spines' in the comp.; I would also like to see Dufty...he is an underused brilliant asset (after 'beefing' up a bit, continually undertaking ongoing defence training and being professionally taught to leap and catch Aussie rules style) let loose at winger with a 'roving' licence for later in the halves when the opposing forwards are tired - wingers these days are either huge or small and fast....
SteveCAZ
Roar Rookie
On the whole, I think Greg's article is accurate and well-argued but there's little success to be shown for a club that should have been a powerhouse in the last twenty years (post-merger). Isolating one year of McGregor's five year reign hardly excuses the other four, each of which were characterized by various levels of mismanagement and/or incompetence. Further, it's not coincidental that the Club's only premiership and a few minor premierships occurred under the stewardship of Bennett, an outsider who kept the Board in its place and sent McGregor packing as "water boy" because he didn't rate his motivational or on-field assessment skills. McGregor's mishandling of the de Belin situation was manifest in one of the all-time season clangers after the Dragon's went close to rolling the Roosters in a great ANZAC Day clash; "we were counting on Jack being able to play." Rather than commenting on something that McGregor had zero control over, he should have focused on how Ben Hunt (yet again) executed a try-line fumble (or a bad kick, or a seven-tackle restart) as he has done during his time at the Club. McGregor's focus on de Belin, as emotional as he may have been, simply made it easy on his team because it excused failure. Good coaches excel at good man-management, exhibit appropriate empathy but don't tolerate or encourage excuses. That Flannagan occupies the assistant role is the reason the Dragons will perform better in 2020 and a whole lot better when he assumes the head-coaching role in 2021.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
I'm a bit perplexed why a player like Dufty hasn't improved these weak points. Tedesco was very poor at passing to supports until he came to Chook world and now he's very good at it. Some players go their whole career without any idea of what to do with the ball when they get in the clear and I don't know why coaches aren't teaching it to them.
Albo
Roar Rookie
Dufty is very quick and dangerous ball runner. But that's where any comparison with Brett Stewart should end. Stewart was great under the high ball and a strong defender. Dufty is not. That is why he can't hold down an NRL spot. He is too small and easily targeted by opposition teams.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Mary isn't the coach with the quality to get this group competitive. Maybe Flanno is. They have a good bunch of forwards, but have lost their best playmaker. Mary is one dimensional and negative with his tactics, one out, bash and barge. He also plays favourites and gives too much ground to keep the 'stars' onside. Lomax was potentially an awesome centre and should be in that position, but to get his signature Mary has promised him fullback, letting players dictate to him and not visa versa. People here know I don't rate Robbo but in his favour is that he has his high expectations and won't let players dictate to him. A better coach could get more from Dufty at FB and would have Lomax at centre. As well as having forwards offloading and attacking. Sad to say, with a weaker squad than 2019 I can't see how the Dragons will challenge the 8. Merrin might spark the forwards but we have huge issue in the centres. Being cynical, but as Aitken is up for contract review he might actually bring his A-game this year.
Bob Campbell
Guest
They will. ????
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Surely the same centres don't get a crack in 2020? It's looking a bit like Hasler's spell at the Dogs whereby the players performance and game plans seemed to be deteriorating each week.
Greg
Roar Pro
I agree that Mary handled things poorly. I think other coaches would have done a much better job and their season would not have gone as bad. However, I think it was just to big an issue and it would have been to big a distraction for any coach to control to the point where they would have been in the mix for finals.
Greg
Roar Pro
Agreed, I think most their forwards have second phase football in them. It is a question of whether they are able/permitted to use it. This is also one area where I think Merrin will also add to the team. He has always been a great exponent of the offload, and was 2nd highest off-loader in the SL comp last season. But to offload they need to dominate the ruck first. Whilst they certainly have the players to do so, I think last year they just didn't have the intensity. I think that could change this year with a happier and focused playing group.
Patrick Brennan
Roar Rookie
Under McGregor, the team has very little hope of improvement. His results over 5 years prove that he is an inept coach. His training regime, his use of one (and one only) terrible game plan, his utter incompetence regarding the reserves bench, his total mismanagement of juniors, his endless delusional excuses and his mindless, relentless selection of the two worst centres in the NRL all indicate that the Dragons are in for yet another long year.
Stanley Q Klogsworth
Guest
Let's face it, folks,Saints are a basket case. Mary McGregor, just isn't up to the standard required for a first grade coach.....a win ratio of less than 50% over the years of his tenure is just not good enough . With Flanagan waiting in the wings,Coach Mary must be feeling very uneasy,even before a ball has been kicked in season 2020
KenW
Guest
Most of what you've said is pretty spot on. There's some good bones there. I'm still keen on seeing Lomax get a good consistent run in first grade - he didn't really meet the hype last year but I still think he's got something. Saab is the real backline gun coming through though, he has all the physical attributes and even at 18 last year just looked like he was a step ahead. I can't let Mary off that easy over the JDB stuff last year though. He admitted himself that the court loss hit the team hard and smashed morale - the whole team had convinced themselves JDB would be in the team from rd 10. It should never have been that way, his msg to the players should have been from the start that JDB's out for the year and they have a job to do. If he had won his challenge then that would have been a bonus. JDB's charges weren't Mary's fault, but Mary's handling of it with the team was terrible.
Paul
Roar Guru
I almost feel sorry for the backs, 40/20, which is a hard thing to say for an ex-forward! Under McGregor, guys like Dufty, Lomax, etc front up to training and have no idea whether they're going to be playing fullback, wing or left right out. It killed the team last year as Greg said, with Mary playing silly buggers with his spine. If they can't settle into positions and be given plenty of game time to show what they can do, the same thing will happen again this year.
Paul
Roar Guru
Two seasons ago, they were killing the comp in the first half of the season, thanks mostly to the second phase play they were generating from offloads. For what ever reason, this style of play was shut down and so was the teams chances of doing anything in the finals. Their forwards absolutely have it in them, but for what ever reason, they're not throwing the sort of passes they're capable of making
Paul
Roar Guru
Sorry Greg, but you've given me no reason to believe the mighty Dragons are going to do much better this year than than they did in previous seasons. I'm convinced they have the cattle to make the finals, but clearly they lack something to get them that far. McGregor has now had 5 seasons to get this team competitive and you'd think with at least 5 SOO players as well as a few ex-rep players that should be a done deal, but he's managed to take them to being wooden spoon contenders. My biggest concern with him is his complete lack of acknowledgement he has caused this problem in any way. I'd suggest the same squad, coached by a Maguire or Hasler, would be a) trying their guts out for 25 rounds & not fading after round 15 and b) be in finals contention or at least be knocking off more than one of the Storm, Roosters, etc. The fact they're not suggests maybe the players aren't up to it ( all MacGregor selections) or they haven't been well coached win - sorry Mary you win that prize as well.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
If a few of the backs lived up to the hype the Saints could have be contenders. If the centres and fullback were making the state team or even going close then it would be happy days but they're closer to playing park football based on their recent form. Dufty was the closest thing to Brett Stewart I've seen for a while but he's gone off the boil and I can't see him ever making the rep teams which is a pity.
Arcturus
Roar Rookie
Really good points. Lots of people rate their forward pack but they have bash and barge merchants and they have edge runners but they have no off loaders. In fact they got rid of the one ball playing forward they had in Leilua. Same back 5 and same halves plus same coach adds up to the same miserable season for Dragons supporters.
Dutski
Roar Guru
Great points. I really like Sims and Frizell as a back row. Halves depth is a massive concern. If Norman fails to fire or if he or Hunt get injured then what? I don’t get the hype about Lomax. Maybe he can play, but we haven’t seen that much of it yet. Maybe there’s improvement just because, as you say, nothing worse can go wrong. But I don’t see the Dragons troubling the top 8 at all this year.
Zak
Roar Rookie
I think the Dragons don’t have enough variety in their forwards and their back 5 doesn’t have enough points in them. The forwards don’t seem to be able to offload and create second phase play. They can certainly make yards and get quick play the balls but the modern game needs second phase play and the Dragons forwards don’t have it in them. Frankly their back 5 is poor compared to the premiership contenders