RedVDave
First Grade
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Sack him yesterday!
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Sack him yesterday!
Seriously. After reading that crap my head nearly exploded. WTF has JDB got to do with it mate?? Please stop with this $hit week after week. The guy hasn’t played since 2018. Give it a bloody rest
Exactly not one journo except maybe Soward has even contemplated rocking the good bloke persona before this year Just looking on the outside and just seeing all these fluff spin excuses thinking typical Dragon supporters complaining why they’re not winning a grand final every year.
Hopefully by about 545pm on Monday 8th June 2020.
Yea it takes time , 6 years later , its getting there ..... Every time he speaks he makes a fool of himself .......
Spot on.
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Opinion
The diabolical Dragons predicament uncovered by Gould's review
Andrew Webster
Chief Sports Writer
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If you needed any further evidence of how diabolical life has become at St George Illawarra, you only have to go back to Phil Gould’s review at the end of last season.
Gould’s remit was never about sacking the coach — because the Dragons didn’t have the money to sack the coach.
Gould’s recommendation to help the coach also couldn’t be implemented — because the Dragons didn’t have the money for that either.
How one of the most famous brands in Australian sport ever painted itself into this corner requires a separate analysis. How they get out of it is more problematic.
Unless the cashed-up Gordon family, whose WIN Corporation owns 50 per cent of the joint venture and has Andrew Gordon as the club’s chair, dips into its own pockets, the Dragons face years of pain.
With just two victories (against the lowly Titans) from their past 13 matches, no victories this year, and only one finals win since McGregor took over from the sacked Steve Price midway through 2014, it’s painfully clear the coach’s position has become untenable.
Under-siege Dragons coach Paul McGregor.Credit:AAP
A very simple question: how many other clubs would have tolerated such mediocrity? Roosters chairman Nick Politis would have sacked three coaches by now.
Gould was brought in to run an eye over the Dragons at the request of then-chief executive Brian Johnston after the side finished second-last in 2019.
He spoke of the financial barriers on 100% Footy on Monday night.
“The scope of that review, what was discussed with Paul McGregor and Brian Johnston, is between me and them,” Gould said. “Having said that, what I can say is that the things that needed to be done around the Dragons they were aware of, but financially they weren’t in a position to do.”
Johnston left the club earlier this year and many assume it’s because he could see the hopelessness of the situation.
McGregor enjoys a close relationship with Gordon, although it’s already assumed he won’t be re-signed when his deal finishes at the end of next year.
That’s a long time persisting with a coach you don’t want and especially one who's not winning matches.
But the Dragons can’t afford the $1 million payout to which McGregor is entitled, and they can’t afford to pay for an experienced replacement, which they desperately need because this is no job for a rookie.
That rules out Souths coach Wayne Bennett, who doesn’t get out of bed for less than $1 million a year. Love him or loathe him, the best option is right under their nose — assistant coach Shane Flanagan — but the NRL has banned him from becoming a head coach until 2022.
Reports Shane Flanagan's return to the head coaching ranks has been rubber-stamped by head office are off the mark.Credit:AAP
The cornerstone of Gould’s recommendation was to bring in a coaching director, but the Dragons couldn't afford that so bringing in Flanagan was the best he could do.
Reports the NRL has “opened the door” for Flanagan are wrong, according to the NRL which said it hadn’t received an approach from his camp, the Dragons nor any other club.
That said, one obstacle has been removed with Todd Greenberg, who issued Flanagan's ban, leaving the NRL. Whether chairman Peter V'landys has an appetite for Flanagan's early return is unclear.
Which brings us back to McGregor, who says he hasn’t lost the dressing-room even if there’s every indication he has.
There isn’t enough space in this column to talk about the roster and baffling team selections.
The mat in the middle of the dressing-room for the match against the Warriors last Saturday was the giveaway.
Words like “AGGRESSION”, “RELENTLESS” and “TEAM FIRST” were writ large across the mat but the players displayed none of these characteristics in the 18-0 loss. They haven’t really shown it since the middle of 2018.
Back then, halfback Ben Hunt looked plucky and confident, justifying every cent of his $1.2 million-a-season deal. Now he looks flyblown, weighed down by the expectation of his salary.
When the Dragons signed Corey Norman from the Eels, they told us about his hunger and desire knowing this was his last chance to make good on his abundant talent. When Warriors five-eighth Kodi Nikorima effortlessly strolled past him to score his side’s third try, it revealed how much attention Norman had been paying to Mary’s dressing-room mat.
There isn’t enough space in this column to talk about the roster and baffling team selections, but if you’re after one that sums it all up it's Zac Lomax.
McGregor was telling anyone who would listen during the off-season that Lomax was his fullback of the future. Which was puzzling because most other coaches consider Lomax a gun centre of the future.
Lomax lasted one round in the No.1 jumper before being shoved out onto the wing for round two, then back in the centres for round three.
Now the Dragons are circling Manly's Moses Suli, with a $2 million, three-year deal on the table, but he’s wavering amid the Dragons madness.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/th...overed-by-gould-s-review-20200602-p54yrs.html
McGregor seems to have a lot of friends that date back to his playing days.
