Dragons set to reward coach Paul McGregor with contract extension
St George Illawarra is set to hand Paul McGregor a contract extension that would give him the chance to overtake Nathan Brown as the longest serving coach in the joint venture’s 21-year history.
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St George Illawarra is set to hand Paul McGregor a new two-year contract extension with an announcement expected within days.
The Daily Telegraph has learned McGregor’s agent David Riolo held further talks with Dragons management this week and it is believed an agreement was reached that will see McGregor offered an extension until the end of 2021.
That would mean McGregor will now get the chance to overtake Nathan Brown as the longest serving coach in the joint venture’s 21-year history.
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McGregor’s anticipated new deal will leave Parramatta’s Brad Arthur as the only current head coach without a contract for next year.
It will be a deserving reward for the hard-working McGregor given the Dragons’ results over the past two seasons, as well as the way McGregor has held the playing group together this year amid tremendous adversity on and off the field.
The Dragons season looked like it could fall apart after losing Jack de Belin to the NRL’s new no fault stand down policy before skipper Gareth Widdop suffered a serious shoulder injury during the round three win over Brisbane.
But despite those two significant setbacks the Dragons have stayed strong, winning their last three games to push into the NRL top eight.
The spirit they are playing with is an obvious sign of the players’ respect for their coach.
McGregor has had to fight hard to win a new deal with negotiations ongoing since late last year.
It is understood the club has done its due diligence in respect to canvassing other coaching options but ultimately decided McGregor had earned the right to stay on in the wake of some gutsy wins over Brisbane, Newcastle and Canterbury.
McGregor took over from Steve Price early in 2014 and along with head of recruitment Ian Millward has done a terrific job rebuilding the roster, while results on the field put McGregor in the top six coaches in the NRL on winning percentages over the past two seasons.
McGregor has currently coached the Dragons in 118 games, while Brown holds the record for most games coached at St George Illawarra with 151 matches between 2003 and 2008.
McGregor’s new deal is expected to be made official in the next week but could even come before Saturday’s match against Manly in Wollongong.
Originally published as Dragons set to reward coach Paul McGregor with contract extension
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