Anthony Griffin named St George Illawarra Dragons coach for 2021 NRL season
Anthony Griffin has made no attempt to hide his plan to resurrect the fortunes of one of the NRL’s perennial under-achieving clubs. This is how the new Dragons coach will do it.
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Anthony Griffin knows full well some people didn’t want to see him get another crack at being an NRL head coach.
But now he gets his chance to prove them wrong.
And one thing the former Penrith and Brisbane coach won’t be lacking when he starts work with St George Illawarra this week is self-belief.
News Corp Australia last week revealed Griffin had become favourite for the Dragons’ top job from next season.
“I know I am in the best shape I have ever been as a coach,” Griffin, 54, told News Corp Australia in his first interview after accepting what is undoubtedly one of the toughest and most scrutinised positions in the NRL.
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But Griffin was understandably extremely proud after winning the race to replace Paul McGregor, signing a two-year deal with a one-year option that is in the club’s favour.
And Griffin didn’t hesitate when asked if his previous experiences, that included getting sacked by Phil Gould at Penrith in 2018 (when the Panthers were running equal fourth), had made him a better coach.
“100 per cent. I am sure it will,” he said.
“It is a brutal business.
“But I have been very successful previously, and I have had a lot of challenges obviously to get through which I have learned a lot from.”
Griffin boasts a 55.5 per cent winning record that helped get him the job ahead of interim coach Dean Young and Dave Furner.
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Griffin said there has been no decision made on what staff he will have working under him, but it’s no secret he has a healthy respect for Young.
He also knows St George Illawarra fans are a tough group to please, but said he won’t be wasting any time starting work on it.
He makes no attempt to hide his plan to resurrect the fortunes of one of the NRL’s perennial under-achieving clubs.
And it will be very similar to what he did previously at Penrith and Brisbane.
When Gould first appointed Griffin to coach the Panthers one of the main reasons was because of the system Gould saw when he visited the Broncos and Griffin was coach.
And while most of the recognition relating to Penrith’s rival almost always goes directly back to Gus, Griffin is now backing himself to do the same with the Dragons.
“I want to build a club from within,” Griffin said.
“I just think we can build a whole structure through the club so they can be self-sufficient.
“And that means turning juniors into NRL players, and being strategic with our external recruitment so that there is a plan about what our future will look like.
“That is what I want to do.
“I want something that every player, staff member, member, sponsor, fan will be proud of.”
Griffin won’t officially start his new contract until November 1 but added: “I will start now.
“The players are in a ‘bubble’ but there will probably be a meeting later in the week.
“But I want to get started now in the actual planning of everything.”
Griffin said he would move to Wollongong.
Griffin was extremely grateful to the Dragons for giving him another chance.
There are some big decisions for him to make in relation to the Dragons roster but he is a known fan of Ben Hunt who he coached previously at the Broncos.
Originally published as Anthony Griffin named St George Illawarra Dragons coach for 2021 NRL season