The jury is still well and truly out on Anthony Griffin’s tenure at St George Illawarra despite the team rising to eighth place to be in sight of an unlikely playoff appearance.
And that’s the conundrum for Dragons officials – the team has not taken a significant step forward under Griffin nor is there enough evidence to suggest from the rebuild that the next few years will be any better.
The club took up the option on Griffin’s services for 2023 before Round 1 this season to give him the job security to invest in young talent.
A bit of short-term pain for long-term gain.
Griffin is a pragmatist. When he trotted out a line-up featuring their three main building blocks for the future in fullback Tyrell Sloan, five-eighth Junior Amone and halfback Jayden Sullivan, the team struggled and Griffin was lumped into speculation about coaches on the hot seat alongside Trent Barrett, Nathan Brown and Michael Maguire.
Those three coaches did not turn their team’s seasons around and have been relieved of that responsibility.
Griffin has persisted with Amone at five-eighth alongside in-form skipper Ben Hunt in the halves but Sullivan and Sloan have barely had a look-in over the past couple of months as the Dragons have gradually clawed their way up the ladder.
Anthony Griffin with Nathan Brown before their Round 1 encounter. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
After their 1-4 start, the Dragons have won seven of their past 10 matches heading into Sunday’s Suncorp Stadium stoush with a depleted Broncos outfit, which was weakened further on Friday night with winger Corey Oates called into Queensland camp when Cameron Munster and Murray Taulagi tested positive to COVID-19.
St George Illawarra’s form has been trending in the right direction but it is hard to predict if it’s meaningful or not – they became one of only three times who have lost to the Gold Coast all season during the past two months and were also pumped by the Storm and Cowboys but they also thrashed the Rabbitohs.
Sullivan is getting a chance at halfback on Sunday alongside his Steelers junior comrade Amone but Sloan remains in the NSW Cup where he will run out at Brookvale against Blacktown Workers an hour earlier after Moses Mbye and more recently, Cody Ramsey, have been preferred as the first-choice fullback.
Young playmakers are like leg-spin bowlers in cricket – pitch them into the fray too early and they’ll get smashed over the park with their confidence irreparably damaged.
Griffin handed Nathan Cleary his NRL debut in 2016 at Penrith and stuck by him as the 18-year-old adapted to the grind of first-grade football.
He also threw Jarome Luai, born 10 months earlier than Cleary, into the fray two years later in what turned out to be Griffin’s final season at the Panthers but used him sparingly as James Maloney had a mortgage on the five-eighth jersey.
Luai again only got a handful of NRL appearances the following season when Ivan Cleary took over as coach before Maloney’s departure for the Super League allowed him to become the long-term five-eighth.
The point being that not every young playmaker is destined to be thrown straight into the fire and be able to handle the heat, particularly if their halves partner is also inexperienced.
For every Nathan Cleary there are plenty of examples like Brock Lamb and Jack Cogger at the Knights five or six years ago who were touted as potential long-term first-graders, but had short stays in the NRL after being given too much to take on too soon.
Griffin has put his faith in seasoned campaigners ahead of his younger brigade in St George Illawarra’s climb into finals calculations, arguing it was doing more harm than good putting the likes of Sloan and Sullivan in the firing line when they weren’t ready for the physical and mental rigours of the weekly NRL intensity.
Veterans approaching the twilight of their career such as Andrew McCullough, Aaron Woods, Mbye, George Burgess and Josh McGuire have been given significant game time under Griffin.
Cody Ramsey. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
It’s kept St George Illawarra away from the bottom of the ladder but it doesn’t inspire confidence in the future.
Justin Holbrook has put his faith in an inexperienced spine at the Titans with Toby Sexton, Jayden Campbell and converted five-eighth AJ Brimson failing to deliver consistently and the team sinking to last place after a first-round finals appearance last season.
He’s now replaced Griffin as the next coach most likely to be shown the door after the Titans conceded recently that there would be a dreaded review into their 2022 campaign under Holbrook.
Depending on which way you look at it, the Dragons are either rebounding from the end of Paul McGregor’s tenure when they finished 15th and 12th in his final two seasons at the helm or stuck in mid-table mediocrity without a clear path to getting better.
The Dragons went 8-16 for 11th place in Griffin’s first season last year.
Dragons players celebrate winning over the Canberra Raiders at WIN Stadium. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
They are now 8-7 in eighth after last Sunday’s controversial narrow win over Canberra in Wollongong. At a similar stage of the season 12 months ago they were 8-8 in seventh spot before the Paul Vaughan COVID party prompted widespread bans and fines and an eight-game losing streak after the second bye round.
With the team well on track to better last season’s record, Griffin’s position is safe heading into next year but Dragons management will be delivered a double dose of deja vu regarding the coach’s tenure before 2023 if the side again misses the finals with little sign of the youth in the club progressing.
Do they then offer Griffin an extension or wait it out until mid-season? It’s way too premature to even consider his future beyond this year but they are likely to again face the age-old rugby league dilemma of “back him or sack him”.
North Queensland and Brisbane have benefited enormously this year from the pain of the past couple of seasons when young prospects got a lot more reps under their belt than they otherwise would have if the team had given more game time to seasoned campaigners.
Both teams bottomed out to finish in the cellar in successive seasons before shooting skywards this year with several of those rising stars now graduating to representative honours.
There is no definitive way to rebuild an NRL team but it remains to be seen whether St George Illawarra under Griffin are stuck in purgatory on the fringe of the top eight or building towards a return to being a title contender for a club which has enjoyed just one playoff win in their two post-season appearances over the past decade.
Tony
Roar Guru
The number of talented juniors who have left the club is a worry
Saints
Guest
One club has been really challenging with a lot of locals in recent years. A lot of them pretty young too. They came from tenth 3 years ago , into a GF. Maybe the question should be around the style of recruitment & the coaching. Import better young players , for the future . Have a plan in place . Griffin is not the future for the coaching.
Saints
Guest
The result for Griffin. ????
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Just don't want to lose either and Hunt plays SOO in the position so he's good at it. Only solution I see.
UAP
Guest
The first time Sloan was dropped against Cronulla was a very wet night. The second time he was dropped was also a wet track. Perhaps a better dry weather player. I agree Griffin has handled him poorly and his confidence is down. Time to give him some game time even if it is only 15 minutes or so. His talent will shine with some new found confidence.
KenW
Roar Rookie
Must admit that I haven't seen the games myself, but I had heard Sloan hasn't done much in NSW Cup. Which is a shame, because he just seems like a special talent. Hook handled him poorly this year - selected for 3 games, dropped, selected for 1 game, dropped - with the worst game merely quiet rather than terrible. But still not a great sign if he can't go back to NSW Cup and show that he's a class above.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Me too, with the twins out wide, a smarter (in my dreams) Lomax and Rava making up a young, skillful and exciting backline. Ramsey as 14 covers all the outer back spots. I actually don't think Sloane stuffed up, he was scoring a try a game then told to tighten his game with reduced risk and dropped at his first poor game. Poor man management.
KenW
Roar Rookie
Who knows DP, Hook must have thought about it. If Sullivan kills it on Sunday perhaps he'll give that a run. Would be interesting but I'm not super-keen on it myself. Hunt plays fine there but he's 32 and in close to the best form of his career at half. Is massively increasing his defensive workload going to get the best out of him in his final few seasons?
UAP
Guest
I had visions of Amone, Sullivan and Sloan forming the basis of a future St George dynamic attacking unit second to none in the competition.. then I woke up. Sloan stuffed up but deserves another chance. Can't see it happening with this stubborn coach.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Jury is still way far out. I don't think Hook has really bought along the youth as well as could have been done and some of the retirees he's brought in don't add much. He needs to get the same bloke who planned the Dragon's first half against Souths into the match strategies more often. It happened once and Hook put an end to it after one half. It was the way we can play and should be playing but it isn't Hook's way. He is staid and risk averse and negative. His penchant for just protecting leads an not going on with it is holding the team back. Unless I see more of the first half against Souths, and regularly, I'll be at Red V HQ each week baying for Hook to be axed. He needs to beat a weakened Broncos AND the Roosters the following week to be thinking they'll finish in the 8.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
#HuntforHooker..
Bunney
Roar Rookie
Good comment Ken Of course Sullivan isn't getting a run. Hunt is their captain and best player, and plays the same position. When Ramsay first burst onto the scene, he was touted as the Dragons future FB. He's there now. I guess he could be playing Sullivan and Sloan off the bench more perhaps. Hook bought a number of experienced players on the cheap, with many of their salaries subsidised by former clubs. What he does with them will determine Hook's future IMO. If he re-signs them at anything above bargain basement prices, he'll be making a big mistake. If you go back in time, Hook played a young Ben Hunt as back up hooker at the Broncos for a long time, sticking with the not-at-all-working halves combo of Wallace and Prince. He finally pulled the trigger with 5 rounds to go when finals action was totally ruled out and put Hunt in as halfback. Will he wait too long again if the same situation pans out?
KenW
Roar Rookie
I can't agree with the perception that Hook is stagnating the younger players. There's still a fair bit of youth in the side at the moment. Sloan is being kept out by Cody Ramsey who's only 22, and another local junior who had a few seasons in and out of the side. Now he's coming good. Amone has been up and down, but Hook seems to be sticking with him. Sullivan understandably hasn't pushed Hunt out of position, but he's the guy getting called up when Hunt's out, rather than Mbye. Lomax is 22, Rava is 24, Mat Feagai 21 (as is his twin Max who is waiting for a chance at centre). The forwards definitely have a higher average age but M Molo, Lawrie & Su'A are all regulars at 25 , while M Molo, JdB & Bird are hardly ancient. Definitely want to see a high class young hooker recruited, that's a big missing piece for them, but othewise there's a basis of a team here that could be competitive for a while. As far as this season is concerned, it's a basic pass mark at the moment. They were a bottom of the 8 side last year (until the bbq at least), and are in basically an identical position right now. How they come home from here will do a lot to determine how stable Hook's position is for the next couple of seasons.
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
Tony
Roar Guru
Some members of the jury have reached their verdict :happy:
andrew
Roar Rookie
Saints are a chance for the 8 but they have no hope of challenging for the premiership. Too inconsistent. They'll have a stack of current players finishing up in the next couple of years and I haven't seen much improvement in Saints game this year to see them threatening the top 4 teams. The jury is still out for Griffin in my book.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
I gave the Hookster the benefit of the doubt earlier in the season despite his recruitment looking very pedestrian. He clearly had a plan and so far I believe he has justified his much-maligned strategy. I have no doubt he has a plan for next year as well and I'm sure he doesn't expect to challenge for a title with his elderly lot. They are there for the experience and value they bring.
farkurnell
Roar Rookie
Yeah a lot riding on this weeks clash for Hook - The Kogarah Retirement Village V’s The Brisbane Schoolies.Surely the old Stagers can get up even without there best player.Many Drags fans have been Death riding there coach but making the 8 will probably ensure he survives to fight on into 2023.