NRL 2021: Dragons coach Anthony Griffin reveals the senior players on notice

Matt Dufty faces a genuine challenge to retain the Dragons’ fullback spot, but it’s not Zac Lomax he should worry about.

Anthony Griffin has opened up with his most revealing interview since taking over at St George Illawarra.

In a wide ranging one-on-one with PAUL CRAWLEY, Griffin shoots from the hip about the futures of all the Dragons’ big guns including Ben Hunt and Corey Norman, explaining why no one will be guaranteed a starting spot heading into the 2021 NRL season.

Griffin also speaks openly about his early impressions of the Dragons’ hugely talented young stars on the rise, and why Cody Ramsey in particular is a fair dinkum threat to challenge Matt Dufty for the fullback spot.

New St George Illawarra Dragons coach Anthony Griffin. Picture Dragons Media

You spent a couple of years out of coaching and had a lot of time to reflect. What did you learn about yourself and how does it make you a better coach?

The first thing I learned was that I still had a passion for coaching and wanted to coach again. I realised that pretty quickly, and the time away gave me the opportunity to learn and continue to grow as a coach and as a person.

Do you change anything that makes you a better coach?

Obviously, every experience you go through you learn. I am a way better coach now than what I was two, three, six years ago.

Dragons fans are very passionate but they haven’t been real happy for a few years. Have any come up to you in the street and given you a piece of their heart about what they expect for 2021?

I have met more long suffering — and that’s how they introduce themselves, as long-suffering Dragons fans — in the last eight weeks. I think I must have met the whole 500,000 of them. I get emails. I get letters. People I used to run into and would never talk footy to are all of a sudden wanting to talk footy because they are also long-suffering Dragons fans. I just tell them to be optimistic and get behind their team.

Adam Clune is a strong chance of starting the season in the halves. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty

What about the style of footy you want to play. How will that change?

I am really lucky that we will have a good spine no matter who is there. We have four really good halves at the club in Hunt, Norman, (Adam) Clune and (Jayden) Sullivan. They have options at fullback with (Matt) Dufty and (Cody) Ramsey and Cam McInnes at hooker. So it allows you to play to their strengths. I think all those players are great runners of the football no matter what position they are playing in. I’d like to see us play a little bit flatter and faster with a little less structure and play to those players’ strengths.

Is Ben Hunt a hooker or a halfback?

He is both. I get asked this all the time. He has obviously played most of his career at halfback, he can play hooker, he has done it at Origin level, he obviously has done it last year at St George Illawarra. But the beauty of him is he has a lot of experience, he has played a lot of finals football, a lot of Origin. The last couple of years he obviously hasn’t been where he would have liked to have been. He would be the first to admit that. But there is a whole change room of players who would say that.

But he is 30 and should be at the peak of his powers. Do you think he suffers from a lack of self-belief because that seems the case from the outside?

When the team is not going well everyone owns a little bit of that and I think that is a credit to him that he carries a heavy burden because he is a really good person and he takes his performances very personally and very seriously. I think anyone in a team which has finished bottom four two years in a row isn’t having fun doing it. I’d be more concerned if he was a bit flippant and carefree. He is probably a little bit of a reflection of how they have been performing.

Ben Hunt is a man under pressure. But can his old mentor have a positive impact? Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty

Speaking of carefree. Corey Norman turns 30 in February. At his best he’s up with the absolute elite. But has Corey reached his potential consistently and if not why not?

I coached him his first two years of first grade (at Brisbane) where he was very elite. I haven’t coached him since so I can’t comment on why not. But I know his training has been first class, he has been a great contributor already. He has obviously still got some unlocked potential in him so that is a challenge for him and for myself and the staff, to find that. But if he can continue repeating the first month, month on month, he is going to have a good season.

You mentioned a couple of your younger halves coming through in Adam Clune and Jayden Sullivan. Junior Amone is another one who plays in the halves. How much pressure are they putting on Ben and Corey to start the season?

Well, I have spoken to the team about this and to anyone who wants to listen, the team will be made up of the people who want to work the hardest and play the best. I have got no pencil out right now writing out teams. I am just watching and coaching and giving everyone an opportunity to improve and get to their best football by the time we get to the start of the year. There is pressure on Clune and Sullivan as well, and I mean that without batting an eyelid. Everyone at our club, staff and players, when you are in the NRL you’ve got to perform week in, week out, if you want to be the best and beat the best. I don’t think anyone is under any more pressure than each other.

So reputations won’t win the spot?

No. Not at all.

Corey Norman is not guaranteed a spot in the starting side. Picture: Matt Roberts/Getty

You also have the Feagai brothers Max and Mat. Are they both fair dinkum chances of starting the year in the top grade?

Yeah, they are in our top 30. Max played at the end of last season and they tell me Mat was close. They are good-sized boys. They are really imposing athletically and they are both training really well. I can hardly tell the two apart. They move the same. Their mannerisms are the same. They are both really good prospects.

You’ve brought in Matt Elliott and Peter Gentle as assistants. Break down their roles. Is it as simple as one is defence and the other attack, or how do you structure it?

Matty is doing attack and Pete is doing defence. We also have Maty Head who is our academy development coach and he is a good coach in his own right and is fulltime.

Be honest. Did the Dragons underachieve in 2020 — or do you think people overstate the strength of this squad, or more to the point the depth of it?

That is a good question because the poor old coach always cops it. But there is a lot more reasons for a club than just the coach why they finish bottom four both years. I am just being blunt with that, not trying to deflect it. There is a lot of areas that we need to improve in. I will know the strength of the squad in six or eight months’ time. I think there is some really good talent within the squad … but where that depth is we will just have to wait and see. I am certain there is a good young talented pipeline of players that are starting to emerge.

Does Matt Dufty own the No.1 jumper or does Zac Lomax get a crack, or is there anyone else in the mix to play fullback?

Ramsey has played on the wing but has played a lot of his football at fullback. No one owns the spot.

St George Illawarra star Zac Lomax at training. Picture: Dragons Digital

What about players like Paul Vaughan and Tariq Sims, they were well below their best in 2020 and lost their NSW Origin spots as a result. Should that be a wake-up call for them?

I suppose. I don’t really care about Origin spots. That is not my motivation. My expectation of them is that they play their best football for St George Illawarra. If they do that the rest sorts itself out.

Cameron McInnes is off contract. What can you tell us about conversations you have had with Cameron about his future and is it non-negotiable that he is re-signed?

I have had a couple of good conversations with him since I’ve been here. He was in the Origin camp for five or six weeks. I haven’t addressed his contract status at all.

Do you plan to play him exclusively at hooker or does he still have a run in that lock role?

Again, he is a bit like Ben Hunt in that he has played most of his football at hooker but he can play lock. I will just wait and see. Obviously he has played most of his football at hooker last year so he will get a crack there initially.

So all things being equal, would Hunt be the first choice for halfback and McInnes the number one choice for hooker or is it all up in the air?

What I’m trying to say is that they are going to have to earn those spots. I am not going to sit here and take them for coffee tomorrow and say, ‘look, you’re going to start at halfback and you’re going to start at hooker’. But they are obviously quality players in those positions. I think Ben is a halfback that can play hooker. It is just something I am serious about. I am not going to be picking teams now and saying ‘he is going to be there and he will be there’. My main concern is for the whole group to have the right preparation and the right standards and the right attitude and if they do that they will pick themselves wherever they want to play.

St George Illawarra's Jack Bird at Dragons training. Source - Dragons Digital

On that, Jack Bird. You’ve told me previously that at the start of last year he was training to play fullback at Brisbane and was said to be killing it before he got injured. I know you plan to play him back row for now but long term where do you think his best position is and how long should we expect to wait before he’s back to his best?

I honestly don’t know where his best position is. He won a grand final at centre, he broke through as a 20-year-old as a backrower and then played Origin at five-eighth and Brisbane were going to play him as a fullback. What that tells you is that he is an exceptional talent but the big issue is that he hasn’t played any football for three years. My responsibility to him is to get him physically and mentally in a frame of mind that he can start playing some reasonable minutes and that is going to take a lot of care and a lot of patience from him and myself and the staff. Until he does that and he gets some consecutive games under his belt I don’t think there is any reason to speculate from my end where he might play. I think initially, and I have spoken to Jack about this, that it might suit him injury-wise and confidence-wise just to play him as close to the ball as possible so he is not put in a lot of dynamic one-on-one situations in the outside backs or at fullback. He is going really, really well.

The Jack de Belin’s court case has torn at the heart of this club for two years and now it’s going to drag into 2021. How do you make sure it doesn’t take up more oxygen?

I don’t give it any oxygen. I haven’t given it any thought myself other than obviously we watched the conclusion of the last court case with a bit of anticipation like everyone did just to see where it was going to go. Apart from that there is no mention of him within the group or the team … He has got a fight on his hands at the moment through something he has been charged for doing. He has got to clear his name. It is well documented that the club has really supported him and looked after him and I am sure they will do it again. But when it comes to football and the team we can put on the park from February/early March onwards, he won’t be playing a part of that obviously because he has got other things he has to do.

So all things being equal should the Dragons be playing finals in 2021?

I hope so. We are not in it for the wood chop. We will be going flat out.

Originally published as NRL 2021: Dragons coach Anthony Griffin reveals the senior players on notice