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There are few certainties in life, you know, things like death and taxes, but you can add to that grim list the fact that the Dragons will never go anywhere while Anthony Griffin is holding the coach’s clipboard.
Somehow, the St George Illawarra board saw fit to extend his contract for another year early last season, and it was a strange decision indeed, but hardly surprising given some of the other clumsy administration that has beset the club over the last few years.
Moving forward, and unless the Dragons play totally out of their skins during the first three months of the season, it’s highly likely that Griffin will have the plug pulled on his Dragons coaching career, and if so, it raises the question of who will be the next contender for the poisoned chalice that is the St George Illawarra coach’s car space?
Only Wayne Bennett has been a success in this role, and even he knew when to cut and run.
A number of coaching candidates come to mind, including some of the usual suspects, and some contenders looking for an opportunity to take the next step. The final choice will come down, firstly, to who wants to take on the role in the first place, if anyone, and whether the board prefer to go with an experienced coach or a fresh face.
Let’s have a look at the main contenders, beginning with some familiar faces.
Des Hasler
At 61, Des Hasler has a proven track record of turning a team’s fortunes around and taking them all the way to the top, and keeping them there. When he began his first grade coaching career with Manly back in 2004 he led them from near the bottom of the table to a qualifying final in his second year at the helm, and then kept them in the finals for the next six years, picking up two premierships along the way.
When he joined Canterbury in 2011 he took them from 9th place to the minor premiership in his first season, and to the finals in four of the next five years. Hasler knows what it takes to turn failure into success, and he isn’t afraid put a few noses out of joint in order to get the job done. Apparently he’s very keen to coach in the NRL again following his messy rainbow coloured departure from Manly in 2022, and surely it won’t be long before someone is chasing his signature for 2024.
Des Hasler walks onto the field during Anzac Round. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Shane Flanagan
Shane Flanagan is 57 and has been coaching since the late 1990s, firstly as an assistant with Castleford in the ESL, and then with the Roosters under Ricky Stuart. He also was assistant coach to Stuart with the Kangaroos in 2007 and with the NSW Origin team under Craig Bellamy between 2008 to 2010.
Flanagan’s coaching career became much more interesting once he was appointed to the first grade role with Cronulla towards the end of 2010. It took him a season to hit his straps, and then had the Sharks in the finals in both 2012 and 2013, before he was suspended for 12 months following the peptide debacle.
The Sharks hit rock bottom without Flanagan in 2014, and picked up their third wooden spoon, but well and truly bounced back when he returned the following year, finishing in the finals in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, and famously winning their first premiership in 2016.
During this time Flanagan was largely responsible for building a siege mentality at Cronulla, and no team enjoyed running on against the Sharks, particularly if the game was being played at Endeavour. Flanagan was suspended for a second time towards the end of 2018 for breaching the terms of his 2014 suspension but was eventually reinstated and spent a couple of years as Paul McGregor’s assistant at the Dragons, and is presently in that role at Manly. He’s now ready to go and knows what it takes to build that need to succeed.
Michael Potter
Like me, I’m sure many people had assumed that Mick Potter’s coaching days were behind him, but all this changed when he took over the reins at Canterbury once Trent Barrett “resigned” in May last year. In his short tenure, the 59 year old helped the Bulldogs regain some much needed pride, climb off the bottom of the ladder, and play some attractive football.
He handed over a much happier and more confident squad to incoming coach Cameron Ciraldo than had been seen at Belmore in quite some time. Potter’s coaching pedigree goes back to the mid-1990s, primarily in England, where he had some good years without winning a title, and he signed on as Wests Tigers coach in 2013. What he found at the Tigers was the same basket case, both on and off the field, that exists today, and his contract was not extended beyond 2014. Since then he has held numerous assistant coaching roles. Potter seems happy in his assistant coaching role, but just maybe he’d like to have another go as an NRL coach. He certainly seems to be able to get the best out of average players.
If the Dragons prefer to ignore the experienced campaigners and go with a younger coach with fresh ideas, and hope for the Todd Payten/Craig Fitzgibbon effect, there are number of NRL assistant coaches who might be of interest, all of whom, coincidentally, had long playing careers with the Dragons.
Jason Ryles
Ryles is 44, and began his coaching career during his last two season as a player for Melbourne, and then took his first serious appointment in 2015 when he became Craig Bellamy’s assistant at the Storm, a position he retained for the next six years. He also spent time during these years with English Rugby and joined Trent Robinson at the Roosters in an assistant coaching role in 2022.
Ryles would be a strong candidate for the Storm coaching job once Craig Bellamy retires, but perhaps the Dragons can beat them to the punch.
Ben Hornby
Ben Hornby, aged 42, began his coaching career in 2012 at the Dragons in the junior development space, eventually becoming an assistant first grade coach. He joined the South Sydney coaching staff in 2020 and has been an assistant first grade coach since 2021, working under both Wayne Bennett and Jason Demetriou.
Dean Young
At 39 years of age, Young bears one of the most famous names at the Dragons club, but perhaps that currency has devalued recently when his father stepped down from the board? Dean Young began his coaching career with the St George-Illawarra junior teams in 2013, and stepped up to an assistant coaching role under Paul McGregor in 2015. He’s also been involved with both the Indigenous All Stars and Tongan national teams. He became Dragons interim coach for the last 6 games of the 2020 season when Paul McGregor resigned, but left the club at the end of the season to take up an assistant coaching role with the North QLD Cowboys under Todd Payten.
Of course the third option is to throw a ridiculous amount of money at one of the incumbent first grade coaches, although securing anyone contracted beyond 2023 would appear to be mission impossible, unless it was another dud like Adam O’Brien or Justin Holbrook. Jason Demetriou looks to be about to extend his Souths deal so that leaves Kevin Walters, who is also under pressure, Craig Bellamy, who surely wants to retire gracefully rather than try to revive the Dragons, and Todd Payten, who would be most unlikely to leave the ascendant Cowboys.
Clearly, the Dragons need a new coach, and they need him now, unless of course they’re happy to be one of the teams constantly inhabiting the bottom of the table. If they wait too long the best prospects will no doubt be snapped up by the likes of the Titans and Newcastle, who will also be in the hunt before the season’s half over. I’m sure that everyone connected with the club, other than the delusional, have already written off season 2023, so now is the time to appoint a coach for 2023 and beyond who can have the time required to build his support team and get involved in roster management. Thankfully, the Dragons have 10 players, coming off contract this year, with only Connor Muhleisen among them worth retaining, and also a few others contracted beyond this year who should either be shown the door or parked in reserve grade. Having the coaching position finalised soon will be critical to being able to both retain players and recruit new talent where required.
My choice would be Des Hasler, sign him for four years, get him in there as soon as possible and give him the final say on recruitment. What do you think?
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