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Opinion

Dragons lose another star under Mary

29th March, 2020
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Roar Guru
29th March, 2020
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Tyson Frizell’s exit to the Newcastle Knights is just another chapter in the book of Mary.

Paul McGregor is a coach who, simply by being a former player, has been given the golden ticket to guide the Dragons, the most famous rugby league club in the world.

Any other club would have punted Mary a couple of seasons ago, after the Dragons led the competition by as many as four points at one stage, only to crash and burn and not only miss the top four, but miss the finals altogether.

How does the club respond?

By handing Mary a shiny new contract, nervously throwing him a new deal lest another club pinch him from under their noses.

I guarantee no club was looking at Paul McGregor as a possible head coach.

Paul McGregor

(Photo by Matt Blyth/Getty Images)

So back to the Frizell fiasco.

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He has headed to Newcastle looking for a premiership, which isn’t a joke, but it should be. The Knights aren’t winning anything anytime soon.

The reason Frizell has left the Dragons is he was very poorly managed by McGregor, too often used as a battering ram up the middle instead of a wide-running back-rower.

As a result, Frizell was nullified in games, not able to utilise his impressive athleticism to dominate like he should. Instead he’s been average to slightly above average for a few seasons now, but he’s not alone.

When Euan Aitken first arrived on the scene he was touted as a future NSW centre. Now he’s not even in the Dragons’ top 17.

Matt Dufty doesn’t know where he belongs and was reportedly heading overseas as he had become disillusioned with his career.

Zac Lomax is heading down the same path, only he has just signed a long-term deal with the club. The fact Mary dropped him after one okay game and shafted him to the wing speaks volumes about his mismanagement of the club’s best young talent.

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Steve Masters is an impressive specimen but somehow couldn’t crack a side that ran 15th in 2019 yet Tim Lafai and Aitken held onto their spots like they were the best centres in the game, like Matt Cooper and Mark Gasnier back in the day.

Jai Field scored a brilliant try on debut but was barely afforded any opportunities to cement his spot in the team thereafter.

Yet Mary remains as head coach after the laughable external review, conveniently done by his good mate Gus Gould.

There’s definitely something about Mary, but it ain’t good.

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