Anthony Griffin Extended Contract

[denis preston]

My concern heading into this year was that due to Hook only having a year guaranteed to run, that he would be disincentivised to pick the juniors. To get the immediate wins he’d go safe and pick players like Mbye at 5/8.

However now with some contract certainty he has no excuse not to look a little further into the future. And with our new crop coming through that needs to be ours coaches priority.

Good point

 

[Number of the Beath]

One point I would ilke to make
For too long Melbourne have been picking up washed up no-name players and making them real stars.

I would like that trait to be part of our DNA.
Positive example - Wendell Sailor
We have great juniors - Getting the best out of what we have to the point they exceed expectations

We've always had great juniors - from the South Coast and the St George area - but now we don't have a single St George junior in the NRL squad ( what with Hosty and Dufty and Leilua not being good enough... FMS ) but when's the last time one of them kicked on and became a household name/ club legend? It's been 10 years at least ( eg Nighty, Hornby ).

If Hook does what he did last year and selects his hand-picked assortment of old crocs over the emerging talent we have got I will totally lose my sh!t. And now he has the security of an extra 12 months to do just that.

I hate to meme but

 

[Dragsters]

As far as I am concerned the board made the right call.

Year 1, Griffin cleared the decks of most of the deadwood.

Year 2, he has a squad which closely resembles what he feels we need.

Year 3, Griffin consolidates and fine tunes the squad, with the gun juniors having had the experience of year 2.

The last thing we need is Griffin having to look over his shoulder with the media beating it’s drum attempting to create a negative story at the first sign of a lapse in team performance.

I agree.

Whilst I was pushing pretty hard for the club to appoint Wane as Mcflops replacement as I saw more upside in him, Griffin has done a decent job so far and if not for bbqgate I believe we make the 8 last year.

Price or McFlop Griffin is not.

He is an experienced coach with a good track record at developing juniors, neither trait the other two had.

It's only a one year extension.

Stops the media speculation and let's him get on with the job of rebuilding...

 

[denis preston]

If we wanted to recruit quality for 2023 we should have already done so under the current trade rules. We've already missed out on a host of talent for next year in key positions despite having freed up cash.

The extension does at least give players certainty of their coach if considering signing up. It's clear we need to strengthen this team further. God help us if we end up near the bottom again - years more pain.

Jebus Red V , gulp down a glass of half full positivity !!

 

[Maddragon99]

Good to see you warming to Hook mate

It’s all about the juniors. The club to its credit is creating a stable environment for the kids to flourish. Griffin & Hunt’s job for the next 2 years is to develop Sloan, Amone & Co. into elite first graders, this is more important than short term success.

There are a lot of parallels to the early 2000’s when we graded Gasnier, Cooper, Hornby, Creagh, D Young, Morris twins & Nightingale.

Nathan Brown gets a lot of stick but he was critical in the development of that crop of juniors which eventually lead to a premiership.

Like Nathan perhaps Griffin isn’t the man to win us a comp but he can play his part over the next 2 years to get us close like Nathan did.

 

[matPORTS]

I see this going one of two ways - flopping miserably or paying off to be the right decision.

The win against the Eels in Round 5 last year seems oh so long ago now (imo that was probably our best individual win since the Bennett era - against a team whom we had a pretty poor record against for the same amount of time and I'm sure at the time brought much optimism among the club and supporter base).

The fact that we haven't had a win since Round 16 last year still has me very concerned (I hope the celebration BBQ was worth it).

But yes, I agree with the notion that this brings certainty - the players who've committed will have stability and recruitment for the future can be undertaken knowing who the coach and support staff will be.

We have already missed out on opportunities to recruit quality where we are 'weak' though (the number 9 position has me concerned both for the immediate and longer term - Mahoney and B Smith were on the market for 2023 while it looks like we'll potentially be make-shifting Hunt, Mbye and Sullivan to cover McCullough this year).

I'm not sold that Hook & the coaching staff plan to be 'bold' rather than 'conservative' when it comes to player selections, especially in this early part of the year. You only have to look at the players we've recruited to make initial judgement on this, but happy to be proven wrong. It will be disappointing if Sloan, Amone, Sullivan, the Feagais, etc get only limited (or even no) game time at the front end of the season. There will still be further growing pains (we probably won't set the world on fire early on) but we will benefit from it later in the year and going into future years. Why haven't we named a squad yet, let alone a numbered one, for the trials this week ?

I feel the 2022 Dragons team has a big stretch - keeping the same team on the paddock for the majority of the year could net us a finals berth from somewhere in positions 5-8. If injuries and/or uncertainty set in with regards to who is our best 17 (conservative player selections not netting benefit followed by wholesale squad changes during the year) then we could finish as low as 14th.

 

[Gareth67]

I agree.

Whilst I was pushing pretty hard for the club to appoint Wane as Mcflops replacement as I saw more upside in him, Griffin has done a decent job so far and if not for bbqgate I believe we make the 8 last year.

Price or McFlop Griffin is not.

He is an experienced coach with a good track record at developing juniors, neither trait the other two had.

It's only a one year extension.

Stops the media speculation and let's him get on with the job of rebuilding...

I was impressed by Griffin’s time at the Broncos after the messiah Bennett left . Sure he inherited a good team , but considering the shoes he had to fill he still done an excellent job in my view , so I was pleased when the board announced him as the Dragons new coach .

The Dragons biggest downfall over the last 7 seasons has been their lack of being able to cope under pressure - they fall to pieces , heads hung down staring at their bootlaces . When I was a kid ( yes I was young once ) playing junior league , if we had done the same thing our coach would tear stripes of us - and no free milkshake after the game that’s for sure .

Some of our blokes need a good kick up the posterior for being so damn meek , I only hope that they have that out of their system now , more so with the arrival of some prominent signings .

Rant over .

 

[Maddragon99]

I was impressed by Griffin’s time at the Broncos after the messiah Bennett left . Sure he inherited a good team , but considering the shoes he had to fill he still done an excellent job in my view , so I was pleased when the board announced him as the Dragons new coach .

The Dragons biggest downfall over the last 7 seasons has been their lack of being able to cope under pressure - they fall to pieces , heads hung down staring at their bootlaces . When I was a kid ( yes I was young once ) playing junior league , if we had done the same thing our coach would tear stripes of us - and no free milkshake after the game that’s for sure .

Some of our blokes need a good kick up the posterior for being so damn meek , I only hope that they have that out of their system now , more so with the arrival of some prominent signings .

Rant over .

Don’t forget ex Dragon Ivan Henjak followed Bennett in 09 & 10 before being replaced by his then assistant Anthony Griffin. For the first time in many years the Broncos missed the finals in 2010 so Griffin started 2011 from a fairly low base by Brisbane’s standards at the time.

 

[Saints Forever]

If the new forwards can build a platform by rolling over the advantage line, Hunt/Amone/Sloan and Sullivan will run riot.

 

[Gareth67]

Don’t forget ex Dragon Ivan Henjak followed Bennett in 09 & 10 before being replaced by his then assistant Anthony Griffin. For the first time in many years the Broncos missed the finals in 2010 so Griffin started 2011 from a fairly low base by Brisbane’s standards at the time.

My mistake Maddy , I thought that he took over immediately after Bennett , I had forgot about Ivan Henjak.

 

[Maddragon99]

My mistake Maddy , I thought that he took over immediately after Bennett , I had forgot about Ivan Henjak.

Henjak is a forgotten man that’s for sure

 

[thebigredv]

Jebus Red V , gulp down a glass of half full positivity !!

The last time I felt positive is when we had won 4 of the first 6 games. We had just lost to Warriors and Griffin was honest and on point in his assessment of the game and the team's performance. From there it went all belly up from one disaster to the next. From my perspective it was unravelling and Griffin didn't seem to know how to stop it. At least not in the short term.

I wasn't there behind the scenes but BBQ gate and persisting with Norman kind of said it all. I note he will be trying to change all that. If you want I can list ten players that we could have signed that will offer more than Woods and Mbye but I suspect you don't want to hear it. Our recruitment could have been better. Is that not a fair point? Some solid signings and some brilliant youth that even Mary could have managed to bring through.

I'm all for people being positive. It's a good way to live life but to be oblivious to reality is unhealthy.

Nobody knows how we will fair. You don't and I don't. We can look at the facts and make a prediction. If it's not good, well it makes the board look bloody stupid in this case if you ask me.

 

[denis preston]

The last time I felt positive is when we had won 4 of the first 6 games. We had just lost to Warriors and Griffin was honest and on point in his assessment of the game and the team's performance. From there it went all belly up from one disaster to the next. From my perspective it was unravelling and Griffin didn't seem to know how to stop it. At least not in the short term.

I wasn't there behind the scenes but BBQ gate and persisting with Norman kind of said it all. I note he will be trying to change all that. If you want I can list ten players that we could have signed that will offer more than Woods and Mbye but I suspect you don't want to hear it. Our recruitment could have been better. Is that not a fair point? Some solid signings and some brilliant youth that even Mary could have managed to bring through.

I'm all for people being positive. It's a good way to live life but to be oblivious to reality is unhealthy.

Nobody knows how we will fair. You don't and I don't. We can look at the facts and make a prediction. If it's not good, well it makes the board look bloody stupid in this case if you ask me.

Certainly agree that hook didn't know how to stop the unravelling in the short term but in the long term he has made recruitment & retention decisions to fix this ( I hope ! ) I also agree the Norman continuous selections did baffle me but time will tell if Hooks Moneyball approach works. Just rather start the year on a clean slate and give everyone at the club encouragement rather than be a naysayer. Mind you, I cant guarantee that this will still be the case in July/August should things be going pear-shaped !

 

[This Year?]

I'm on the fence. I don't think Griffin will get us anywhere near a premiership. The only upside I've seen since he came is that the cap is getting managed slightly better. Is there another coaching option available?

 

[Dragon David]

Griffin reveals plan for star recruits after Dragons change 14 roster spots in squad overhaul

Griffin opens up on Dragons’ star recruits, selection battles after radical 14-player overhaul

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[SBD82]

I'm on the fence. I don't think Griffin will get us anywhere near a premiership. The only upside I've seen since he came is that the cap is getting managed slightly better. Is there another coaching option available?

 

[blacksafake]

View attachment 58125

Not funny

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

I can live with his contract extension.....now lets get behind the team and the coach in 22/23

 

[Exsilium]

I'm on the fence. I don't think Griffin will get us anywhere near a premiership. The only upside I've seen since he came is that the cap is getting managed slightly better. Is there another coaching option available?

Premiership coach? No.

Will he stabilise the club and provide a good foundation? Yes.

If you look at who he blooded at his time with the Broncos and Penrith, you'll find many notable first graders. When he was our coach, I didnt expect a premiership but it was a relief that we could be competitive. We were bringing in juniors and keeping them. If you think Ivan won us the premiership, I'd happily debate that Gould was right to bring Griffin in. We needed discipline and direction. Two things Hook thrives on.

Dragons to finish 6th

 

[Illusion]

View attachment 58125

Mate you just scared the "CRAP" out of me ...... What a sight .....