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Opinion
While their defence was far from good last season, St George Illawarra’s only hope of defying their critics to have a successful 2022 is to fix their attacking woes.
In the first in a series analysing where each NRL team needs to improve this season, the numbers show the Dragons failed to fire with the ball in hand during a pedestrian first season in attack under coach Anthony Griffin.
They lacked creativity: The Dragons were 11th for points scored per game last year at 19.8, mirroring their finishing position on the ladder with an 8-16 record and a -142 differential.
If you delve deeper into their attacking stats, they were probably lucky to finish that high and it’s not hard to see why they are predicted to finish among the also-rans this year.
They are ranked equal second-last in PlayUp’s NRL premiership market at $41 alongside the Warriors with only the Wests Tigers considered a longer shot at $51.
Last season they struggled to get the ball to the attacking end of the field.
They were 15th in running metres with 1333 per game, ahead of only wooden spooners Canterbury’s 1317 and 14th in tackle busts at 26.3 (ahead of the Cowboys’ 24.9 and the Bulldogs’ 21.2).
They made the most errors (11.7) to be 14th in completion rate at 76%, marginally ahead of only Manly with the Roosters last with 75%.
This resulted in them being second-worst in the amount of times they were tackled in the opposition 20m zone, averaging 24 per game to just edge out Brisbane’s 22.
And on the rare occasions that they got into prime attacking position they struggled to convert those chances, ending up 15th for attacking kicks at 8 per game ahead of South Sydney’s 7.4 (although the Rabbitohs didn’t need to kick that often with the high number of tries they scored through sweeping passing raids).
The Dragons couldn’t even get the ball back when they didn’t score, ranking the worst in the league for forced drop-outs with just one per game.
In the defensive department they are far from elite – their faltering attacking meant they made the second-most tackles per game at 323.9 behind the Warriors (324.2).
This was compounded by the Dragons missing 34.2 tackles each match, behind only Cronulla (34.4) and North Queensland (36.8).
Griffin will again place his faith in captain Ben Hunt to be the fulcrum of the team’s attack in 2022. Veteran hooker Andrew McCullough is a defensive-minded rake while the other two members of their spine will be young prospects still finding their feet at NRL level – fullback Tyrell Sloan and Jayden Sullivan or Junior Amone at five-eighth.
"Re-signing is a proud moment in my career. It was a pretty easy decision, none of us wanted to leave. This is our home." ???? ???? #redv pic.twitter.com/1TSQ7gnOv3
— St George Illawarra Dragons (@NRL_Dragons) January 25, 2022
The three young Steelers juniors, who have each been re-signed for the next couple of seasons at last, showed enough in their rookie season last year that they are attacking threats.
St George Illawarra will focus heavily on their array of young prospects headed by this trio with twins Max and Mat Feagai in the outside backs also set for more game time.
As part of their roster overhaul they have bolstered their pack with Maroons duo Francis Molo and Jaydn Su’A, ex-Sharks prop Aaron Woods, Manly second-rower Jack Gosiewski and English front-rower George Burgess out of retirement.
Dragons must fire early or it’ll be time to hook Griffin
The club has farewelled hooker Cameron McInnes – who did not play last season due to a torn ACL – to Cronulla, fullback Matt Dufty and controversial prop Paul Vaughan to Canterbury and erratic five-eighth Corey Norman has retired after failing to attract a contract.
Outside backs Jordan Pereira (Broncos), Brayden Wiliame (French rugby) and Gerard Beale (Brisbane Tigers), half Adam Clune (Knights) and front-rower Kaide Ellis (Wigan) have also departed.
Whether this roster revamp pays dividends remains to be seen but if they will continue to struggle if the Dragons cannot find their attacking spark.