The Rumours Thread

[maestro1]

Ryles is embracing a total rebuild and is readjusting his roster accordingly and that obviously can’t be done in 1 year and probably why he asked us for 5 years but we couldn’t get our heads around such a notion.

We are haunted by short term initial coaching contracts coupled with premature extensions and rebuilds that never rebuild anything due to consistently f**king up our roster .

In respect of Ryles if you say he has 6 + 30’s now then one would assume he must have had at least 9 if not 10 when he arrived.

In his 1st year of a rebuild big names like RCG, Gutherson, Matterson, Lane all gone.

We instead purchased in pretty much our 1st 2 years Eisenhuth, RFM , Klemmer, Gutherson 3 years, Cook 2 years and kept going with BMM.

We f**ked around with malcontents like Hunt & Lomax and Ryles immediately dropped the boom on Brown & Lomax and went to market.

FFS we can’t even find a way to rid ourselves of Cake & Sloan and will carry them again this year and Ryles meanwhile is out hunting for speed & youth (yes I know JDB is an exception but not a bad one if all is considered)

For those with the logic that Parra can’t win many without Moses have you considered that the more games Moses plays the more chance they have of winning, yet we have a half despite playing every game (minus his suspension) we can’t win very many with him and yet our minor grade halves took that team to the GF.

So any decent forward considering either us or the Eels has a pretty easy decision to make.

As of today Parra/Ryles has achieved sweet fxckall. Same as us Dragons /Flanno. Did I miss Parra winning the minor premiership, premiership, top 4, top 8 in 2025? Yes, they finished higher than us, but they didn't have 13 significant injuries that would have forced them to use so many players at NRL level. They didn't have to debut 8 or 9 rookies. No team has ever done well utilising so many players at NRL and debuting so many kids in the one season.

 

[Macedonian Dragon]

Agreed, I don`t think we can underestimate how much this is a problem, especially for those who have alternatives.

Keaon can carpool with Su’A to training just like the others from Sydney do. If it’s a problem for him when he’s potentially being paid around $1 million per year then he clearly doesn’t have the right attitude to play for dragons.

 

[SnowDragon]

Keaon can carpool with Su’A to training just like the others from Sydney do. If it’s a problem for him when he’s potentially being paid around $1 million per year then he clearly doesn’t have the right attitude to play for dragons.

How hard is for a group of them to pay a driver?

 

[mattw5]

Gutho had no problem and even relocated down for the short term those are the blokes that we want.

 

[VodkaSaint]

As of today Parra/Ryles has achieved sweet fxckall. Same as us Dragons /Flanno. Did I miss Parra winning the minor premiership, premiership, top 4, top 8 in 2025? Yes, they finished higher than us, but they didn't have 13 significant injuries that would have forced them to use so many players at NRL level. They didn't have to debut 8 or 9 rookies. No team has ever done well utilising so many players at NRL and debuting so many kids in the one season.

History shows a club to be in a better situation the next season due to so many young players getting a go due to injury’s
Blessing in disguise

 

[maestro1]

History shows a club to be in a better situation the next season due to so many young players getting a go due to injury’s
Blessing in disguise

Yes, this is usually the case. Roosters benefited in 2025 by debuting a lot more kids in 2024 than they usually do.

 

[possm]

How hard is for a group of them to pay a driver?

How hard would it be for WIN or Twiggy to use their chopper to transport all of the Sydney players to training at the gaong each week.

 

[CronullaSaint]

How hard would it be for WIN or Twiggy to use their chopper to transport all of the Sydney players to training at the gaong each week.

If we are unable to sign players because of the travel distance, how are Canberra , Melbourne, Brisbane etc able to sign players. That is a much longer drive. Players have the option with the Saints. You can either move down south or if you want to live in Sydney drive down! Its doable if you don't want to move.

 

[Dea]

The time to drive from the southern suburbs of Sydney to the Gong, plus the type of drive, would be better than driving across Sydney. it becomes a lifestyle choice of location. Easier for young guys without kids - although you move away from the Sydney scene, and a bigger decision for young families established near family and friends. Gutho bought in on it with his family and relocated.

 

[RedVDave]

If we are unable to sign players because of the travel distance, how are Canberra , Melbourne, Brisbane etc able to sign players. That is a much longer drive. Players have the option with the Saints. You can either move down south or if you want to live in Sydney drive down! Its doable if you don't want to move.

I get annoyed with the location argument how many Canterbury players actually live in the area? I'd guess exactly zero.

If you don't want the hustle and bustle of Sydney you have the gong best of both worlds.

Besides which people who work at Sydney CBD in their every day lives make a similar trek (or day I say further) every day.

 

[The Word]

I agree. Professional sportsmen around the world tend to relocate for work, it goes with the territory. Every year we go down this same rabbit hole. There are plenty of reasons for our lack of success over the last decade but this isn’t one of them. This stupid debate is always instigated by the same anti joint venture pinheads every time.

 

[steerlerbab]

I do remember at the time when we were speaking to Ryles about the job, and he surprisingly turned it down, there was a whole bunch of speculation about why he had. Some of that was media stuff about Ryles making certain demands and the Board turning them down. There was no real evidence for this though. At the end of the day he was offered a 4 year deal, enough time for any coach to turn a club around surely if he actually had what it takes? I think the truth was that he was approached by Melbourne about potentially succeeding Bellamy and that looked a lot easier and more high profile than the tough work required at the Dragons. When he realised Bellamy wasn't going anywhere he was lucky to get the Eels offer to be honest.

Look I like Jason Ryles and I hope he succeeds in his coaching career. I'm a bit filthy still that he let us down but I'll get over it. At the end of the day I still haven't seen anything in either his talk or his actions that mark him out as a high quality top tier coach but it's early days. Flanagan however has proved himself in a previous role and deserves our support. I'll re-assess at the end of next year but I'll get behind him and the squad for the 2026 year for sure.

Ryles came from Melbourne and Roosters system assistant coach to Bellamy and Robinson. Both teams stacked with internationals, state of origin players, etc. He was offered to stay at Storm to one day take over from Bellamy, but then Bellamy is not leaving. He looked at our roster at the time and wisely decided against taking the job. And frankly we may have dodged a bullet too. Because Ryles was not the man to rebuild our club.

Ryles will probably turned out to be similar to Madge. Madge failed at Tigers . Yet same Madge succeeded at Rabits and Broncos. Why? Because Madge gets that extra bit out of players to make them premiers and given a similar team to Ryles he may succeed.

On the contrary Flanno is known to be a rebuilder from his time at sharks. It is not an easy task. I believe 2026 will be the year that makes or ends Flannos career at Dragons. If by round 10 we are languishing at the bottom of the ladder he will be shown the door. This has happened before (Mary, Pricey and Hook). I am sure Flanno knows it.

 

[Mojo]

How hard would it be for WIN or Twiggy to use their chopper to transport all of the Sydney players to training at the gaong each week

Very hard …. There’s a whole safety protocol in boarding and disembarking from a chopper, airspace compliance considerations, load size and distribution considerations, take off and landing requirements … plus they’re limited for space and bloody uncomfortable - not to mention the fact that it would actually take considerably longer than simply driving.

Half a dozen footy players choppering back and forth virtually daily would be comical but also a recipe for disaster.

I really don’t believe the commute is an issue but, if it is, buy or, preferably, be given, a luxury people-mover van or two and hire a professional driver to pick them up and drop them off. Haven’t we got an official vehicle sponsor? It’s potentially a great branding and marketing opportunity.

 

[dungay dragon]

So we reportedly offer KK 5 mill over 5 years
Best offer he has received by a Mill
That was almost a week ago and he still cant decide ???
I say bring it to a head and demand an answer withing 48 hours or the offer is withdrawn
Too many times we are used as Pawns by Player Managers to obtain a beefed up offer elsewhere

 

[dragon64]

Very hard …. There’s a whole safety protocol in boarding and disembarking from a chopper, airspace compliance considerations, load size and distribution considerations, take off and landing requirements … plus they’re limited for space and bloody uncomfortable - not to mention the fact that it would actually take considerably longer than simply driving.

Half a dozen footy players choppering back and forth virtually daily would be comical but also a recipe for disaster.

I really don’t believe the commute is an issue but, if it is, buy or, preferably, be given, a luxury people-mover van or two and hire a professional driver to pick them up and drop them off. Haven’t we got an official vehicle sponsor? It’s potentially a great branding and marketing opportunity.

The commute issue is crap, it's just an excuse not to play for the Dragons. I've been following the Dragons since I was in 4th class at school, I live on the central coast and commute every day to Sydney for work. I choose to live near the beach and the lifestyle away from the city and traffic, unfortunately my job is in Sydney so I have to travel. The amount of people who commute to work every day from the central coast to Sydney or from Wollongong to Sydney for work is unbelievable when you see the traffic on the roads.

 

[possm]

If we are unable to sign players because of the travel distance, how are Canberra , Melbourne, Brisbane etc able to sign players. That is a much longer drive. Players have the option with the Saints. You can either move down south or if you want to live in Sydney drive down! Its doable if you don't want to move.

TTo solve the problem:

Establish top-grade training facilities and staff at Kograh

 

[since77]

Ryles wanted certain guarantees and assurances and wasn’t given them so declined.

Sorry OT that story that the media and some sections of the fanbase peddle isn't actually true. Ryles is on record saying that he backed out late because he was told that Bellamy was believed to be leaving Melbourne and he was next in line there. In same interview he actually said he regretted not taking the job at Saints especially in light that Bellamy stayed. Had absolutely nothing to do with control etc..

As you know I'm personally glad we ended up with Flanno as I think he was the best person for the job at the time and considering the state of the club and roster at the time but it wil be interesting to see how Ryles goes in year 2. Threre's a lot of hype around him and the Eels for '26. He certainly has a decent pair of halves to work with so no excuses for him in '26 as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Maximus]

I get annoyed with the location argument how many Canterbury players actually live in the area? I'd guess exactly zero.

If you don't want the hustle and bustle of Sydney you have the gong best of both worlds.

Besides which people who work at Sydney CBD in their every day lives make a similar trek (or day I say further) every day.

The same people who always whinge about the travel to Wollongong, never seem to give a shit that the bulk of our juniors come from the Illawarra, so changing from Wollongong forces them to relocate or travel.

It's not about whether players have to travel. For them it's about punishing the Illawarra side because they hate the JV.

 

[epDragon62]

So we reportedly offer KK 5 mill over 5 years
Best offer he has received by a Mill
That was almost a week ago and he still cant decide ???
I say bring it to a head and demand an answer withing 48 hours or the offer is withdrawn
Too many times we are used as Pawns by Player Managers to obtain a beefed up offer elsewhere

I say, the power is in his hands and he made it clear he wants some time to reflect on he decision.

Hold firm and communicate as required

 

[Auntie.Gerald]

I agree. Professional sportsmen around the world tend to relocate for work, it goes with the territory. Every year we go down this same rabbit hole. There are plenty of reasons for our lack of success over the last decade but this isn’t one of them. This stupid debate is always instigated by the same anti joint venture pinheads every time.

i hate flying back and forth to Perth over the years.
wouldnt want to every second week from Jan to Oct
sucks !