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Opinion
There are few sports that have a news cycle as quick and dramatic as rugby league.
The theatre off the field can almost be as interesting as the breathtaking antics you see the players perform week in, week out. Bold proclamations and iron-clad assurances from straight-faced pundits are the bread and butter of most major publications and this week one of their main assertions is that the Dragons are dead in 2022.
While the start of the season for the St. George Illawarra Dragons certainly has been grim, having won only once in five outings, and that game occurring over a month ago, that black-and-white recap does not tell the full story.
Nuance is the enemy of click-bait but it can paint a slightly more optimistic future for the Dragons in 2022 if you dive into those matches and the situations surrounding them.
To begin with, of the four games the Dragons have lost, three of them have been against top-four teams, with the Eels, Panthers and Sharks all vying for title contention.
Against the Panthers, many have forgotten the Dragons were within touching distance of securing a stunning comeback after some questionable sin-bins and a sluggish opening forty. When matched against the Eels, St. George kept pace for the opening 40 and had momentum going into the break only to be well and truly blown away by a much better side.
While pre-season games mean little to most, for Dragons hopefuls the fact that they had dispatched the Eels and won their first Charity Shield in a decade provided great expectations that have yet to come to fruition.
While these happy memories are now long faded for the Red V, when you place them next to the halves of quality football they played against the Eels and Panthers you start to see glimpses of a good team that is struggling to find their footing.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
The fact the team has so many changes to the roster from last year also could add to the mixed showings, but many before the season kicked off were singing the Dragons’ praises in this respect.
Of course, the dropping of Junior Amone and Tyrell Sloan is baffling, and the constant presence of the well-intentioned but far-too-slow Andrew Mccullough at hooker and an out-of-place Moses Mbye at fullback is frustrating even the most casual of Dragons fans.
But the depth in the forwards (with Josh McGuire and Tyrell Fuimaono available for selection this week) and undeniably talented backs point to a team that is waiting for a breakthrough.
Confidence is a funny thing in the NRL. Having such a tough first draw for the first five weeks of the season could very well kill the Dragons’ season before it starts. Are they the best team in the league on their day, or even in the top eight? Perhaps not. But they certainly are better than what their results would have you believe.
The next three weeks see the Dragons play the Knights, who are also on a bit of a downward trajectory, the Roosters on Anzac Day (a game which even the worst Dragons sides will generally be up for) and the hapless Tigers.
At the end of those three games, you will have a much clearer picture of where the Dragons will finish. If they manage to reverse their crumbling confidence, put out a consistent starting 13 and develop the five or ten minutes of good footy at a time into 80, then they have every chance of making the finals.
It is a big ask, and most would predict Griffin is not the man to do it, but there is still time and some hope for Dragons fans, if only a fool’s hope.
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