Dragons coach Paul McGregor full of optimism for 2018 NRL season
BOOSTED by strong recruitment, coach Paul McGregor is confident the Dragons have finally emerged from a painstaking rebuild.
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ST GEORGE Illawarra will head into the 2018 NRL season with what Paul McGregor rates “the best squad I have coached”.
Boosted by the recruitment of Ben Hunt and James Graham, McGregor is confident the Dragons have finally emerged from a painstaking rebuild that pretty much dates back to Wayne Bennett’s departure at the end of 2011.
“My fingerprints are over the roster,” McGregor told The Saturday Telegraph, heading into his fourth pre-season in charge since taking over from Steve Price midway through 2014.
“It takes a while to get the roster you want.
“And it has been a journey.
“But I feel it is the best squad I have coached.
“I won’t say (best) team because it is always down to your squad, your depth and your 30 players.
“But I certainly feel that the depth within the squad is at its best in 2018. And to be fortunate enough to pick up two internationals that are still at the top of their game is a real blessing.”
THE $6 MILLION MAN
When the Dragons forked out a reported $6 million to sign Hunt to a five-year deal, it’s fair to say most fans and critics thought it was a desperate decision.
But looking back on the campaign Hunt had with Brisbane, and importantly the challenges he personally overcame to win selection in Australia’s World Cup squad, McGregor is adamant the 27-year-old still doesn’t get “enough credit for what he did last season”.
“For me, it showed a lot of character,’ McGregor said of Hunt’s ability to fight back from being dropped to Queensland Cup and also forced to switch from halfback to hooker.
“I would never interfere with another coach’s club and maybe he deserved to be put back.
“But I feel, from all levels, I don’t know how many people could have done what he did.
“It just proves to me also how team orientated he is and how resilient he is.
“To watch him do that for his club, do what the team needed, and he not only handled it but got himself into the Australian side.
“For me that was a sign we have the right man.”
GARETH WIDDOP’S FUTURE?
The way Gareth Widdop performed at fullback for England sparked plenty of debate as to what the skipper’s best position is for the Dragons.
“I haven’t spoken to Gareth about 2018,” McGregor said.
“I just wanted him to go away and enjoy his holiday but when he comes back we will sit down and chat.
“I feel that the speculation around how good he was at fullback is justified.
“But we have to all remember that he did get the Dally M five-eighth of the year and ran third in the player of the year.
“So although his World Cup was classy with three man-of-the-match performances, he is the running Dally M five-eighth of the year.
“What it does — and it’s the same with Ben — it gives us plenty of versatility.”
EXPECTATIONS
After leading the comp through the early rounds last season, McGregor doesn’t hide from the disappointing end result.
But he doesn’t overlook the positives either.
Their attack was a huge improvement on 2016, scoring 33 more tries, while the likes of Widdop, Cameron McInnes and Paul Vaughan all had career-best years.
In recent seasons the Dragons have probably developed the second most rookies only to Newcastle (nine in total) and you could also argue their pack is as good as any in the NRL. McInnes came out recently and said the Dragons should be fighting for a top four spot in 2018.
“I think last year gave us a real solid foundation and a blueprint on what we were good at,” McGregor said.
“We demonstrated how well we can play but we just didn’t do it consistently over the journey of 26 weeks.
“I suppose we exceeded everyone’s expectations early in the year and we didn’t live up to our own in the back half of the year.
“If you look at the year that was, we left everyone and ourselves wanting more out of it.
“We still have a bad taste in our mouth because of that.
“But we are working hard to make sure we close the gap between our best and worst performances because there was too much of a difference there.”