Josh Dugan hasn’t only missed the bus — he’s missed the point, as Blues and Dragons ready to say goodbye
Paul Kent, The Daily Telegraph
August 28, 2017 7:10pm
JOSH Dugan picked a bad weekend not to get on the bus. Might be time to make a new plan, Stan.
He lost the faith of his St George Illawarra teammates and jeopardised his chance to play in the finals. More — and with less publicity — he severely damaged his chances to play for NSW again.
Tolerance has nearly expired for Dugan, a wonderfully talented but, ultimately, flawed player.
It was the second time in 48 hours his attitude was questioned.
DISCIPLINED: Why Dragons dumped Dugan
The season has slipped away as Dugan’s focus has faded. (Ashley Feder/Getty Images)
Two days earlier, NSW coach Laurie Daley got told he was not going to be reappointed as Blues coach and
Dugan had as much to play in that as anybody.
Daley was set to be reappointed before the NSW Rugby League board underwent a second review, broadening the interviews beyond the coach and chief executive, Dave Trodden.
Andrew Farrar (manager) and John Cartwright (assistant) and others were interviewed and once they were done the sentiment was Daley had overseen a culture where the result ran second to the drinking culture.
A healthy part of the concern was Dugan’s decision, along with teammate Blake Ferguson, to spend the Friday afternoon on the drink when Daley gave the team the day off. They admitted being there about eight hours but insist they weren’t drunk.
Pause for laughter.
Dugan actions in Origin camp appear to have ended his Blues career. Picture: Brett Costello
It emerged in the review that Daley did not know of the drink until the Thursday, the day after the Origin game, which prompted a simple question from the board of why didn’t he know?
The Queenslanders giggled themselves hoarse over the Blues’ binge drink, for what it said about the team and where they were at.
Johnathan Thurston spoke of it on the Triple M Saturday NRL Show.
“With that trust, it’s a mutual respect between the coaching staff and the players,’’ he said. “That’s the difference in the culture, I believe, is that when the coaching staff give you those days off you do it in the right way and in the right manner.
“Some of the boys will go and play golf, some of the boys go sit at a cafe but certainly we’re not on the piss five days out from a game.”
It told Queensland all they needed to know. The NSWRL board, too.
Dugan has paid the price again for stepping outside the expected boundaries. (Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
The NSWRL board lost all appetite for Dugan and his offsider, Blake Ferguson, to be part of any NSW squad in the future after completing their review.
Two other players are also pushing uphill for next year’s series.
The board know enough to know selection will begin and end with the new coach when he is finally appointed but the coach will also go into the series knowing if he defies the board and who they believe are at the centre of the team’s cultural issues, and lose, their tenure will be short.
Culture is hard to define because it means different things to different people. It is basically the standard of behaviour you are willing to accept.
Dragons coach Paul McGregor is trying to build a strong club with certain accountabilities.
It is a team-first mentality. An idea considered so important it is why Origin camps and clubs out of form still have bonding sessions to develop ties between teammates.
Dugan, whose business is rugby league, missed the bus to the game on Sunday. His sole job for the week.
It came a week after he missed the team plane home from Brisbane after their round 24 loss to the Broncos.
Dragons' finals hopes alive
On Monday, he denied missing the plane, even as club insiders defended McGregor’s decision to drop him from the Penrith game by confirming he missed the plane before he missed the bus.
So why the lie? How can a coach improve his team if his most senior player won’t accept responsibility?
Dugan was in dispute with the Dragons this year because the recruitment boss Ian Millward refused to raise his contract to $1 million a season.
The Dragons instead dropped their offer from the $800,000 he is on to $700,000, telling him he was being considered as a centre. That was the polite way of telling him he was not worth the money he was asking.
Can Cronulla get the best out of Dugan? Photo: Brett Costello
Dugan countered in May, weeks before Origin.
“I’m not being greedy,” he said. “I’m going for what I feel I’m worth as a world-class player.”
Three weeks later, Dugan signed with Cronulla, saying coach Shane Flanagan whispered words of honey in his ears.
“I’ve gone as a world-class player,” Dugan said.
“That’s what Flanno’s told me. That’s all I wanted at the start — to be branded as that rather than a certain position.”
That’s what was important to him. The fluff of fame, not the substance, and good luck with that.
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