St George Illawarra Dragons: Jason Ryles earmarks Shane Millard to join him as an assistant coach

Dragons coach in waiting Jason Ryles is busily putting together his support staff. Just who has he earmarked to join him at the club next year?

Newcastle August 2 2002. Jason Ryles congratulated by Shane Millard on scoring the opening try - NRL Newcastle Knights v St George Illawarra at EnergyAustralia Stadium. (AAP Image/Colin Whelan/Action Photographics) NO ARCHIVING EDITORIAL USE ONLY

St George Illawarra coach in-waiting Jason Ryles is busily putting together his support staff with former teammate Shane Millard among those linked to a role at the Dragons.

Ryles has spent the past fortnight engaged in a series of conversations surrounding the role at the Dragons. Now he is in the midst of piecing his team together as St George Illawarra inch closer to appointing Ryles as their next coach.

Millard and Ryles played together at the Dragons and share a close bond. The former Roosters, Magpies and South Sydney hooker has spent the past two years working at the Bulldogs as the club’s head of pathways and academy coach.

(L-R) Jason Ryles is planning a Dragons reunion with former teammate Shane Millard (R). Picture: Action Photographics

Millard also coached Illawarra’s SG Ball team to a grand final loss to Penrith in 2016 in a side which featured Dragons centre Zac Lomax.

Since coaching the Steelers, Millard was head NSW Cup coach at North Sydney and South Sydney before joining the Tigers as Michael Maguire’s assistant coach.

Former Dragons coach Nathan Brown – who is working at Parramatta in pathways – has also been linked with a return to the club in some capacity as part of Ryles’ staff.

Current interim coach Ryan Carr and assistant Ben Woolf still have 12 months left on their contracts and are highly regarded by those at the Dragons.

St George Illawarra chairman Andrew Lancaster also met recently with former South Sydney supremo Shane Richardson about coming on board as the club’s head of football. The Dragons are yet to decide if they will pursue Richardson, who helped build premiership sides at Penrith and South Sydney.

Talks between Ryles’ management and St George Illawarra are expected to be ramp up in the coming days after the Dragons take on the Roosters on Friday night.

The two parties are locked in negotiations with the central sticking point the length of the deal and what it will cost to have Ryles join the club.

The Dragons are baulking at a straight-up five-year contract but they could agree to a long-term deal based on certain performance triggers and a capped payout should the situation sour quickly.

Sydney Roosters assistant coach Jason Ryles is poised to join the Dragons. Picture: Getty Images

There is a recognition among senior figures at the club that the next coach needs to be given time and resources to turn them around given the current state of the organisation – they were in a share of last heading into the Roosters game and have won just one finals game in a decade.

The club will move into a new Centre of Excellence at the end of next year but there is also an acknowledgment that their football department needs to be strengthened to compete with the power clubs.

Money is not a concern. The Dragons have the financial muscle to compete with the elite, having turned their fortunes off the field in recent years. They also have the influence of WIN and billionaire owner Bruce Gordon at their disposal – the media baron is known to be desperate to see the club challenge for a title.

As such, Ryles will be given the power to bulk up his staff and bring his own people into the club as he looks to build a team capable of challenging for a premiership.

Originally published as St George Illawarra Dragons: Jason Ryles earmarks Shane Millard to join him as an assistant coach