Millward spills some important info.

[Dragsters]

I'm gonna go with Nathan Ryan: if a coach rocked up to a meeting on a jet ski, I'd be sold right there haha

Yeah, nice deal sweetener.

...and the thought of playing behind this pack, which was his priority.

 

[Captain Apollo]

I alluded to this a few weeks back. With Duges and Widdop not confirmed to re-sign, that's $1.5m in cap money. Surely that brings another elite player into calculations.

Sure it would be nice for Duges to stay and play centre, but we are nicely stocked there. Aitken has been signed long term, Mann and Milne can play on the left and Herbert will surely be knocking on the door of FG next year. And we still have Lafai if he comes good. We have plenty of centres.

Teddy and RTS are the FB's I'd be chasing, but neither are are likely to come. But if it's true that we're looking at another big name FB to replace Duges if he leaves, that can only be a good thing. An elite fullback who can run and ball play, combined with Hunt could be the formula we're looking for.

FYI - Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is under contract to the Warriors until the end of 2018. As such earliest the Dragons could sign him would be for the 2019 season.

 

[st.phil]

can't lose dugan before we get hunt

 

[Crush]

I don't think Widdop is really in their plans for next year. I have heard that he has demanded an outragous amount of money to stay which tells me that he also wants out of the club.
I hope that Dugan re-considers the offer from Dragons, it would be great to secure him for another couple of seasons.

 

[Dragsters]

I think Widdop to fullback is a smokescreen.

For what exactly I'm not sure. Perhaps it just a message to Duges that there are at least 3 more players that can play fullback in the club with Dufty and Field as well.

Or it maybe an entirely different target altogether, who knows?

 

[St Georgio]

Wow interesting reading, I haven't been here for a couple of days, it seems an interesting move by our Saints, my concern is the coach, it seems to me that coaches like Bennett and Hasler are no longer in the picture.
Having relieved the coach from having any real input to who is retained or let go may be a masterstroke, this smells like a job for someone like Cleary..but some people are capable of reinventing themselves i.e Des Hasler!

"'While Millward has intentionally staked the Dragons’ future on the club’s junior base he said there would always be a place for big name recruits to fill the gaps"'
BRILLIANT I LOVE IT!

 

[JDHD]

I think Widdop to fullback is a smokescreen.

For what exactly I'm not sure. Perhaps it just a message to Duges that there are at least 3 more players that can play fullback in the club with Dufty and Field as well.

Or it maybe an entirely different target altogether, who knows?

He said in the interview that the plan for Field next year is to play him at fullback and bring him into the halves when he's got some size on him, like with Lockyer.

 

[JDHD]

Yeah, nice deal sweetener.

...and the thought of playing behind this pack, which was his priority.

Yes, Millward said in the interview that Hunt was mostly focused on the juniors at the club and the forward pack he'd be playing behind. He also wanted to know about university study for his partner. Hunt met with the Dragons three times before they even started discussing money.

 

[Gareth67]

I think Widdop to fullback is a smokescreen.

For what exactly I'm not sure. Perhaps it just a message to Duges that there are at least 3 more players that can play fullback in the club with Dufty and Field as well.

Or it maybe an entirely different target altogether, who knows?

Just as long as it is not that NFL-Titans big head .

 

[giboz71]

FYI - Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is under contract to the Warriors until the end of 2018. As such earliest the Dragons could sign him would be for the 2019 season.

For RTS, its worth the wait.

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

All this he indicated, I heard ,talk is ,hes mates with, hes asking big dollars, his girlfriend lives close by.......it makes for interesting talk/ gossip but trust me no one knows nothing only the player or would be coach himself....I learnt one thing dont believe anything until that person is actually in our colours on the field when the whistle blows

 

[getsmarty]

After listening to this interview again have to say I'm impressed with Millward. Already looking at 2019, 2020 Roster. The club has done well to retain the bulk of our up and coming juniors.

 

[Frank Facer]

Could be so but the problem may be signing a proven experienced coach under these conditions.I would expect a senior proven coach would like to be judged on his performance & if so this would mean having a big say in who comes & goes.Looks like we will once again be going down the path of rookie coaches & dare i say in house.

Very good point. It looks like those behind the scenes want to keep as much control and power as possible. If I was a coach I would want control of who we keep, who we let go and who we want to buy. I do no think a big name coach such as Bellamy, Bennett or Hasler would want to coach under those circumstances.

 

[Dragon Revival]

However when previous external coaches have left our roster has fell into disarray and their have been gaps all over the place. Bennett was able to pick up a few well priced players like Boyd, Costigan Smith and Weyman to supplement the largely organic locally produced roster left by Brown.
For five years since 2011 Doust has sat on his hands and the roster has been in total disarray and it is only this year that their is some hint of recovery.

 

[dragonssamy61]

I agree with most of what is being said by most above.
I agree that the recruiters are doing a good job.
Succouring our juniors and signing hunt ect.
Be interesting to see who we get as coach.
Can't see us getting hasler so not sure who it will be.
Imo would like someone like cleary.
But if we get des great.

 

[possm]

I alluded to this a few weeks back. With Duges and Widdop not confirmed to re-sign, that's $1.5m in cap money. Surely that brings another elite player into calculations.

Sure it would be nice for Duges to stay and play centre, but we are nicely stocked there. Aitken has been signed long term, Mann and Milne can play on the left and Herbert will surely be knocking on the door of FG next year. And we still have Lafai if he comes good. We have plenty of centres.

Teddy and RTS are the FB's I'd be chasing, but neither are are likely to come. But if it's true that we're looking at another big name FB to replace Duges if he leaves, that can only be a good thing. An elite fullback who can run and ball play, combined with Hunt could be the formula we're looking for.

It all depends who this 'elite' fullback is. Does anyone on here have an idea of who it is?

 

[Dragonslayer]

Listening to Millward (and a lot of people will read into it differently) there is a definite shift to securing and developing our own talent.
More interesting for me was the names not mentioned. Nighty for one, and it does appear young Garrick is the front runner there.
2018 backline is looking very different:
F/B - Field
Wing - McDonald & Garrick
Centres - ? Dugan maybe and ??
5/8 - ???
7 - HUnt
Great insight into the Hunt signing, I thought this was very well handled by Millward and Co.
The final piece was the coach. We didn't get the usual spin like "Paul, is our coach moving forward" etc line.
Given what he said, then if a new coach is or has been sought then they would have to be junior development focused. Des does not fit that criteria IMO. Cleary, most probably would (out of the available coaches) be the logical choice unless they are looking to the ESL.

 

[SGMax]

I pray every night that we keep Dugan and bring in Tedesco.
If we release Widdop and a couple of the outside backs, we should have around 1.1 mil for Tedesco.
Melb, NQ, Roosters, Broncos etc can all have several star players, then Dragons should be able to fit Hunt, Tedesco and Dugan in the team.

 

[Dragonslayer]

It all depends who this 'elite' fullback is. Does anyone on here have an idea of who it is?

Given what Millward said in the Fox podcast, I doubt we are chasing an elite fullback. It maybe just rumour centred around Dugan's contract negotiations.

 

[giboz71]

It all depends who this 'elite' fullback is. Does anyone on here have an idea of who it is?

Think we need to see how Dufty and Field progress these next couple of months.

They would be options to play FB and could be very good ones.