BBQ time, Griffin is gone!

[Dragons154]

How about the time he had Moose playing in the half’s during a trail game…

 

[since77]

I understand we are all happy and relieved that Hook is gone....but also remember he is a thoroughly decent bloke with a family who will also be suffering and he tried his best for the club but it just wasn't good enough..

Maybe he is. However his diabolical team selections, woeful junior development strategies, B grade recruitment strategies, incompetent bench usage and many other things resulted in him bringing this situation entirely on himself. As we were warned by Panthers fans, he has completely “coached“ the football out of this side. He thoroughly deserved to be sacked. ….. 12 months ago.

 

[merahputih]

Hook can bring the Coke .........

As long as it's not the sort of Coke the police might be interested in.

 

[An Old Westie Dragon]

I understand we are all happy and relieved that Hook is gone....but also remember he is a thoroughly decent bloke with a family who will also be suffering and he tried his best for the club but it just wasn't good enough..

I’m with you Twinkles. Yes, I have been dumbfounded by some of his selection decisions (playing Mbye instead of Liddle, leaving Sullivan off when we are chasing points etc) but I’d love Hook to write a book on what actually goes on at the Dragons. It would be an interesting insight to what goes on internally. Recruitment has been abysmal for one, did he have any input to who was signed?

I had high hopes when he took over, but it’s just been a disaster. Probably worse than when Price and Mary were in charge.

 

[Victoire]

Jesus imagine reading that book. "Insomnia Cure" by Anthony Griffin

 

[Maddragon99]

I understand we are all happy and relieved that Hook is gone....but also remember he is a thoroughly decent bloke with a family who will also be suffering and he tried his best for the club but it just wasn't good enough..

Sorry I’m not buying this woke BS. The club has done him a favour by paying him him out early & letting him go. Griffin was never going to get extended beyond 2023 due to his own poor performance. By letting him go he’ll now avoid all the on going conjecture about his future & that has to be better for his mental health.

 

[dannyt]

Hook can bring the Coke .........

Cool. Who's bringing the drinks?

 

[Dragons154]

I understand we are all happy and relieved that Hook is gone....but also remember he is a thoroughly decent bloke with a family who will also be suffering and he tried his best for the club but it just wasn't good enough..

“Thoroughly” decent bloke is a complete stretch.

I’m with you Twinkles. Yes, I have been dumbfounded by some of his selection decisions (playing Mbye instead of Liddle, leaving Sullivan off when we are chasing points etc) but I’d love Hook to write a book on what actually goes on at the Dragons. It would be an interesting insight to what goes on internally. Recruitment has been abysmal for one, did he have any input to who was signed?

I had high hopes when he took over, but it’s just been a disaster. Probably worse than when Price and Mary were in charge.

As far as I’m concerned the board members probably don't even know who plays for the club ATM..

Griffin is solely to blame for our on field performances. His completely stripped our juniors of any sort of confidence they had coming into first grade.

The recruitment while his been at the club has been god awful and it shows that his fingerprints have been all over it…
McCullough, McGuire, Norman “didn’t bring him to the club but wanted to resign him”, Woods etc

Not 1 player has progressed under Hook while his been our coach.

His shown that he has favourites and that has set our Junior's back multiple years.

 

[Number of the Beath]

How about the time he had Moose playing in the half’s during a trail game…

He was a better half than Hunt

 

[to_ddeath]

I'd normally rejoice a coach sacking like this, but after the Mehry years & this current calamity I'm pretty much numbed by it all.
It's an incredibly delayed reaction, think most could see Gruffin was rubbish even a year ago.
The extra year extension was never earned at any stage. This year proved that emphatically.
Basically, long story short I gave up on this rabble after 37 years at the conclusion of last season, all the off-season drama with the Young/Finch letterhead scandal, the Amone incident, Hunts ego on top of everything else just pushed me right away from the joint.
Could smell the stench a while back but the odour hadn't taken over me until the end of 2022.
What could perhaps bring me back to it all?
A long-term plan involving a complete overhaul of the football department, with a view to potential root & branch changes at board lev....nup, who am I kidding??
That is the problem right there, the self-centred, ego-driven board/s with the clubs' best interests stuck somewhere well below basement level.
As Saints leagues 5 year memberships are incredibly cheap ATM, I'm going to spend that little amount right now & hope I and others can influence the structure of the boardroom (eg Doust GTFO etc). Maybe one day things will turn in a positive direction.
However with the WIN influence & the fractured board setup at present, it's hard to see anything changing in the longer short-term at all at least.
Demerge? Great idea but the NRL is into expansion these days.
Out of the current available coaches?
Ryles is probably the best option going forward but needs the right supports surrounding him.
Will he get that?
Don't trust the current faceless bunch coming through with the goods. Gut instinct, too many knocks & fails.

Anyway, I'll enjoy much more watching a Bennett-coached team display a lot closer to 80 minutes of footy weekly than most of the average spuds running around under a caretaker coach (I actually do wish Carr well but don't envy the task he has, spoon avoidance with this bunch is harder than it looks I reckon).
Will still watch on Friday night hoping for a home victory, & I have too many mates who I've met in my life at Kogarah, Gong, SFS etc who deserve it after the pain they have all suffered especially of late. Only thing is, I've already moved on in the mind at least in the short-term.
Sorry once again to my Souffs supporting nan up there since 89 who urged me back at Lugarno as a kid to support the local Saints, maybe one day I'll return, or not.....will watch this space & hope (with not much of it left) that it might eventually turn around.

 

[Slippery Morris]

People a quick to feel sorry for Hook but I am sure he did not feel sorry for what he has put the Dragons juniors through like Sullivan, Sloan, Lomax and our new signing Liddle so he can give his mates a run. He brought this on himself. This is his 3rd time and probably his last so he will be ok as he has been though it before. I am sure he will get a decent enough pay to set him up for a couple of years or so.

Saints will hopefully get their identity back and that is a team that is built on juniors not nursing home for Qlders dn putting then ahead of our own local boys who will bleed for the club.

 

[matPORTS]

Whether it was completely in his control or not, the recruitment & retention under Hook has been nothing short of terrible. Likewise, we all had hope that our juniors were going to finally get a fair crack once Mary was moved on, but if anything it has set the junior system back by good couple of years.

The likes of Mbye and Woods should never have been recruited to be regular starters in the 17 vs nurturing any of our juniors into the top grade. Jack Gosiewski was solid without being spectacular (has played well for the Cowboys recently). Why was he let go in favour of keeping these other two on the books last off season??

I'm glad that he's gone in time to not potentially ruin the careers of the Couchman twins, as this could be the only real shining light that we have coming up in these next 3-5 years (and make no bones about it we are a minimum 3-5 years away from being where we need and deserve to be as a club and historic brand within the game).

Sullivan not being put back out on the field last Saturday night was criminal! That was no doubt him challenging the board to sack him.

If Ben Hunt wants out the door, well I challenge him now to go find a club who is going to match the salary that he is currently on. The board also needs to grow a set with this one and say we aren't subsidising the salary should a move occur either.

As for the board - well the name for the next "Sack (whoever the coach is)" thread should be "Sack the Board & CEO" because this time around it's all on them, especially if we go down the Ryles/Rookie pathway and it fails again.

 

[Rexxy]

If any doubt that this great club is divided, this should prove it. Reportedly the players have ''given up on the club'' and specially are ''filthy'' with the Board for their response, or lack thereof, around Griffin’s job status this season, which has been up in the air since before a ball was kicked in 2023. Rubbing salt into the wound, is that not one member of management bothered to attend Ben Hunts 300th dinner celebration. Love him or hate him, Hunt deserves the plaudits, if alone, for his longevity.

Yeah I heard Buzzard Rothchild say that too.

the place to celebrate Hunt is in Sydney or Wollongong. How do you justify 12 biz class airfares and five star accom because it fell on a weekend in Townsville

 

[SEAT 1A]

BBQ at Bud's place.

 

[Ruby Roundhouse]

this is our future, hire shit coach, beg the board to sack them, hire shit coach, beg the board to sack them

on and on

 

[bathtime]

Hunt left fuming over Dragons’ bizarre Hook move as contender’s key phone calls revealed

Hunt left fuming over Dragons’ bizarre Hook move as contender’s key phone calls revealed

www.foxsports.com.au

You've got to put up with a bit of De Belin dribble in this video but at the 1:11 mark you'll see that sweet schaudenfreude moment of Anthony Griffin driving out of our lives forever

JDB "nothing really changes" I don't ever want him to be a spokesperson for our club

 

[Dragon David]

this is our future, hire shit coach, beg the board to sack them, hire shit coach, beg the board to sack them

on and on

So true Ruby. Get this wrong again, bye bye Dragons!

 

[Gardenia]

Such nous. Also that time he wanted to make Jack De Belin captain, just a few weeks after the famous BBQ.

Jack would be a good captain actually

 

[Gardenia]

Sorry I’m not buying this woke BS. The club has done him a favour by paying him him out early & letting him go. Griffin was never going to get extended beyond 2023 due to his own poor performance. By letting him go he’ll now avoid all the on going conjecture about his future & that has to be better for his mental health.

True and he gets paid out no doubt. Maybe he was being very smart by his diabolical calls during games and regarding selections. he didnt walk and they had to sack him and pay him out - well played

 

[Victoire]

Jack would be a good captain actually

Wow. Do I really need to list the reasons why he would be a terrible captain?