NRL 2021: How Anthony Griffin ended ‘fat club’ at St. George Illawarra Dragons

Anthony Griffin’s fearsome presence has ended one pre-season tradition but the new Dragons coach has installed another in its place.

New Dragons coach Anthony Griffin

St George Illawarra players have revealed how Anthony Griffin’s fearsome reputation killed ‘The Fat Club’ in Wollongong.

The rumours and chatter about Griffin’s punishing preseasons started doing the rounds at the Dragons the moment Griffin was signed as the club’s new head coach in September.

It literally scared the kilograms off players and all returned to the club from the off-season in tip-top shape.

Not a single St George Illawarra player made the “fat club” when they clocked on for pre-season training under their new coach ahead of the 2021 season.

“They heard a few rumours from what he was like back in the day so I think it scared the guys a fair bit,” forward Kaide Ellis revealed.

Kayo is your ticket to the best sport streaming Live & On-Demand. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >

Anthony Griffin’s reputation preceded him at the Dragons, prompting players to keep fit during the off-season.

“He used to do a lot of early morning clubs if you weren’t fit enough like drills.

“A few of the boys heard about those things and knuckled down more than what they would have.”

While fear might have kept the weight off, winger Jordan Pereira described Griffin’s arrival in Wollongong as a ‘breath of fresh air’.

Pereira believes Griffin’s approach to training, while still gruelling, can help the Dragons turn around their on-field fortunes.

“We don’t have a fat club this year. It’s been a breath of fresh air, everyone is in good nick,” Pereira said.

“The conditioning is laid out in a better format. It [training] is harder but we get more optimum time to rest and recover.

“The hard days start at 6am but the easy days are at 9am so after your hard day you get a big sleep and chance to recover. The coaches are massive on that, making sure we get to recover.”

The training may be harder but Jordan Pereira says Anthony Griffin has been great for the Dragons. Picture: Dragons

Griffin’s presence might have ended one pre-season tradition but the new coach has installed another in its place, the breakfast club.

Every Friday morning players receive a message from Griffin assigning them to a group of teammates, who then go and eat breakfast together before training.

The groups are picked at random and are different each week.

“Once a week we start at 7.30am to have breakfast. We get split into five different groups of random teammates and we’ll pick a cafe together and go get a coffee. It has been really good to meet the new guys and get a good eggs benny before training,” Pereira said.

For Ellis, the breakfasts are a chance to get away from his roommate and fellow forward Trent Merrin.

“I’m living with Trent Merrin at the moment so I have had a gutful of him. He doesn’t stop. He’s a bit of a pain in the arse so I try avoid him whenever I can because I’m with him 24/7 at the moment,” Ellis said.

Kaide Ellis has trained under Anthony Griffin before and was prepared for a brutal pre-season. Picture: Dragons

Ellis played under Griffin during their time together at Penrith in 2018, where the coach was renown for his no nonsense and uncompromising approach.

But the 24-year old revealed the coach has made some distinct changes to his style, in particular, the relationship Griffin has with his playing group.

“He has made a lot of changes. He had two years off and I’m sure he sat down and thought about what he did well and what he didn’t do well,” Ellis said.

“To me, the one thing I have noticed is that he is a bit more relaxed.

“His relationship with the players …. it was good back then … but better now.

“He used to try and assert himself and be loud, kick and scream a bit, but he’s toned it back a bit and he’s a bit more relaxed.

Originally published as NRL 2021: How Anthony Griffin ended ‘fat club’ at St. George Illawarra Dragons