After two and a half years out of professional sport Jack de Belin made a successful return to rugby league off the bench via the Dragons NSW Cup team on Saturday, playing around half the match.
The game also marked the return of boom youngster Jayden Sullivan. Jayden has barely played in 2021 due to chronic hamstring injuries, but he got through the game uninjured.
It’s certainly been an up-and-down season so far for the Dragons. Up after Round 5, thumping the Eels and sitting in fourth place, they’re now down after Round 12 rounds sitting mid-table after a very poor performance against the Tigers.
Anyone who was hoping De Belin would immediately come in and save the Dragons season like a knight in shining armour needs to think again. Even though De Belin is an elite athlete, it will take some time for him to get his groove back. It’s not called first grade for no reason.
Also, when asked about the possibility of a quick return, coach Anthony Griffin bristled and snapped that De Belin was the furthest thing from his mind.
It was an interesting statement by Griffin given that his team has lost six from their past seven matches. I would have thought he’d be considering all his options.
While the Dragons’ form of late has been enough to drive me to the brink, there’s still hope. The Dragons have a pretty soft draw from here and are unlikely to contribute any players to State of Origin, so it’s quite possible they will be able to sneak a few victories in pursuit of the finals.
In the four weeks leading to the bye the Dragons will play the Broncos, Bulldogs, Raiders and Warriors, which are all winnable games. If Griffin can conjure up three or four wins, his side will be back in the top eight.
Excluding any further injuries or suspensions, the Dragons should be back to full strength, including De Belin, after the Round 17 bye and might be able to come home with a wet sail.
We’ll see what happens. The next month will test coach Griffin and tell us a lot about his coaching abilities. Josh Kerr and Mikaele Ravalawa are both back from suspension next week, which should help. But a one-from-seven skid has every Dragons fan I know very concerned.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
I wouldn't be surprised if the signing of a player like Lodge is largely coincidental to sponsors who come and go naturally anyway. On the other hand it could be true. It's ironic that that the Dogs lost sponsors even though they sacked players. We were told that taking action was the way to hang on to sponsors. Even more ironic is that when they signed one of the players they had previously sacked and the Raiders signed the other, no sponsors were lost , I believe.
Andrew
Roar Pro
In Hook’s match preview that came out on Monday he was definitely more open to bringing Jack back. I suspect Jack will be named on the extended bench this week but will end up playing KOE Cup again to help his match fitness. As I stated in the article we need to scratch together a few wins while we’re in a soft part of the draw. After the bye we have Manly, Titans, Souths twice, Canberra, Penrith, Roosters & Cowboys. Congratulations to Tariq for making Origin but it also means we’re down another forward for a must win game....
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
IIRC, the Broncos did lose some sponsors, but the club was popular enough that they were immediately replaced.
Andrew
Roar Pro
Yes Vaughan off the bench had me scratching my head as well. Faamausili is going ok but he’s not in the same class as Vaughan. Perhaps there’s something more to that. Forwards need to roll forward & get quicker play the balls. Our attack has become very lateral as a result. JdB should give the boys a lift, if he can find some form it’ll be a huge boost.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
When Saints get a few players back and JDB gets going they have a decent chance of making the 8 if they play to their potential. They did that early in the season and they can do it again if they run and tackle hard. The Knights have shown that any of these teams in contention for the 8 can win games. Ironically , it's the player they don't want, in Dufty ,who has been the catalyst for many of their wins in recent years.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
I'm not hearing of clubs who sign some of these colourful characters losing sponsors or having trouble attracting sponsors. It gets talked about a fair bit but the Broncos sponsors didn't flee when Lodge , for example, was signed and I guess they haven't struggled since.
Soda
Roar Rookie
I was thinking this year, had the dragons got all their players they were chasing they could have had JDB, Hayne, Folau, Norman and McGuire. Just as well they didn't, it would be very hard to attract sponsors with those characters and their collective baggage.
Paul
Roar Guru
Some teams need a catalyst to win games. Look at Tommy T and Manly. I'm not suggesting JdeB is in his class as a match winner but if he comes back with a great attitude, which hjelps lift his team mates, there's no reason why he can't be the "it" factor that turns things around. Of course it would help if a few of his mates stopped doing stupid things that earn suspensions. Injuries are always going to happen but stupid play can be avoided.
Adam
Roar Guru
Barrel scraping there...
Tony
Roar Guru
I think at the very least, JDB will do a better job than Moose McGuire
Heyou
Roar Rookie
Injuries, suspensions and the long stand down have hampered SGI. The side has been a bit shamboluc as a result. Most are not expecting JDB to save the season but are glad he is back in the Red V. I shake my head at some of the selection choices and the bench sometimes makes my eyes roll back in my head but what do I know? A mere couch coach here waiting for that next win. We are still in the top half of the ladder by the way... perhaps as a result of so many uneven scores in this half of the season. I know... it’s weird.
KenW
Roar Rookie
They're all winnable games but then again Cronulla and Tigers aren't exactly table-toppers and we couldn't get past those blokes. The Dragons have 2 main issues at the moment: 1. Team List. Dufty, Rava, Lomax are the 3 best outside backs we have right now, and they're all out of action. Add in the rotating missing persons list from the rest of the side and we're fielding a heap of players whose total games is less than their shoe size (and a few ancient ones like Beale). Sides like the Roosters and Melbourne have done OK in that scenario - we're not them, we haven't. 2. Forward power. That stat of no Dragons forward making 100m last week wasn't an isolated issue - those numbers have been fairly awful for a while now. Not sure exactly why but there's a few factors I can put my finger on. - Rava missing is significant - he's the only back 3 contender in the squad that can consistently give a good set start. - Vaughn off the bench the last 2 weeks is a weird tactic when other experienced players are missing. With Sims & McGuire out, Cronulla was running through us early last week, finding not much resistance in the middle. When Vaughn came on that momentum slowed but we were already on the backfoot. What was achieved, and why did they think it was so successful they did it again this week? Anyway, that was a rather long-winded way of getting to the point that perhaps JDB can add something straight away. Even with no expectations on his ball-playing or hole-running, if he can just shore up the defense in the middle (which was always a strength) he could do a good job.
andrew
Roar Rookie
Time will tell Andrew. I'd like to think Saints can jumpstart their season against the Broncos this week.