NRL 2021: Canterbury Bulldogs win 28-6 over Dragons, Corey Norman contract news

News Corey Norman isn’t wanted for 2022 couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Dragons, suffering a humiliating defeat to the Bulldogs.

The Dragons have reportedly told Corey Norman he won’t be re-signed for the 2022 season. Picture: Getty Images.

So who wants Corey Norman for 2022?

The question, undoubtedly, is an intriguing one.

And one the man himself would like answered, too.

Standing outside the St George Illawarra sheds on Monday night, and with his side having just been embarrassed by Canterbury-Bankstown, Norman admitted to having “no idea” where he will be next season.

Officially, the Dragons No.6 was supposed to be celebrating his 50th game in a Red V jersey.

Yet instead of being gifted an oversized crepe banner, Dragons officials instead confirmed Norman’s contract would not be extended beyond the end of this season.

Which is so very rugby league, right?

A move which also leaves Norman, aged 30, at a career crossroad.

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The Dragons have reportedly told Corey Norman he won’t be re-signed for the 2022 season. Picture: Getty Images.

Despite being close with Dragons head coach Anthony Griffin, the club has decided to part ways with Norman and instead pin its future on a couple of promising youngsters -- most notably Jayden Sullivan and Junior Amone.

None of which this veteran of 219 NRL games disagrees with.

“That’s football,” he shrugged of the decision to move him on. “We’ve got two good juniors here in ‘Bud’ Sullivan and Junior.

“We’ve already seen Junior getting drip fed (games) and when Bud can stay injury free you will probably see him as well.

“The club and Hook have gone in that direction and I totally understand. For me, I just want to enjoy the rest of the year and see what happens.”

But as for where he goes?

“No idea,” Norman conceded. “I only found out last week so I rang my manager and now he’ll start throwing the line out.”

Despite having known Griffin since he was a teenager, Norman insisted there was no bad blood between him and the man who delivered the news.

“That’s the best thing about Hook, he’s straight up and down,” the five-eighth continued. “As a player that’s what you want.

“I wouldn’t have liked it if he beat around the bush. That’s what I respect.”

The Dragons season is now in free fall after losing seven of their last nine games. Picture: Getty Images.

Asked if he was surprised by the decision, Norman said: “We’re halfway through the year and nothing had been said (about his contract).

“I was speaking to a few of the other boys here and it felt like they were going to go that way. As I said before, we’ve got two young kids here who are pretty special.

“So I was getting that feeling anyway.”

Griffin, meanwhile, said the decision to part ways with Norman was a “hard one” but “business”.

“We gave it a lot of thought,” he said. “And I spoke with Corey last week, to let him know that he wouldn’t be offered a contract.

“He understood.

“And now we move forward.

“It’s a hard one. But every one is a hard one.

“Matt Dufty was a hard decision to make. He’s played for this club his whole life.

“But it’s what we think is in the best interests of this club going forward. To build a list that can bring us sustained success.”

The Bulldogs have now won just their second game of the season. Picture: Getty Images.

Asked about potentially moving Norman aside in coming weeks to give his younger players more NRL time, Griffin added: “At the moment we’ve got our best team on the park.

“Sullivan is injured and has been for most of the year. And Junior is not quite ready at the moment”.

Elsewhere, Norman also labelled the Dragons performance against Canterbury as “embarrassing”.

“We’re all disappointed,” he said. “It’s embarrassing.

“We’re embarrassed.

“The club brought us up even to Sydney yesterday so we didn’t have to travel. They gave us every opportunity to turn up today and, as a whole, we let the club down.”

MATCH REPORT

—Adam Lucius

The lower the opposition, the worse St George Illawarra play.

The listless Dragons succumbed to a team outside the top eight for the sixth time this year, going down 28-6 to bottom-placed Canterbury at Stadium Australia on Monday.

It’s the Bulldogs first win in seven weeks and only their second of the season.

The only negative was allegations of milking aimed at Canterbury forward Jack Hetherington after he stayed down in a tackle to attract a penalty late in the game.

Dragons forward Blake Lawrie told Hetherington: “I had respect for you before that.”

With legendary ex-All Blacks coach Steve Hansen watching on in his role as the club’s high-performance consultant, the Bulldogs were upbeat, physical and near perfect with and without the ball – everything the Red V weren’t.

Trent Barrett has now won his second game as Bulldogs coach. Picture: Getty Images.

The Dragons’ performance was punctured by knock-ons, forwards passes, passes over the sideline, conceded six agains, missed tackles and kicks over the dead-ball line.

They managed to concede a try while the Dogs were down to 12 men, skipper Josh Jackson sin-binned for repeated team infringements.

Even mild-mannered Dragons coach Anthony Griffin lost his rag as he witnessed some of the rubbish dished up.

At one stage the St George Illawarra ballboys couldn’t find a Steeden to resume the game, but perhaps it was a plot to avoid more misery.

Incredibly, the Dragons boast a much better record against teams inside the eight (3-2) than those on the outside looking in (3-6).

This latest loss could have major ramifications for St George Illawarra’s top eight hopes when it comes down to the business end of the season.

Take nothing away from Canterbury. The Dogs were great for a team supposedly low on confidence and form.

They held a deserved 8-6 halftime lead and went bang, bang after the break, scoring two tries with ridiculous ease to ease out to a 20-6 advantage after 52 minutes.

Halfback Jake Averillo helped himself to two tries, while hooker Jeremy Mashall-King scored one of the easiest dummy half tries you are ever likely to see.

Adam Elliott’s try 11 minutes from time – in which he pulled away from three defenders – killed the game dead.

“I’m very disappointed. It just wasn’t good enough,” St George Illawarra coach Anthony Griffin said.

“They were just harder at the ball the whole night. There is no excuse for what happened.

“They’ve been building for a win and we helped them.”

“It’s been very lacklustre from the Dragons. There’s been a complete lack of intensity from the get-go,” former international Greg Alexander declared.

“It’s been a complete mismatch. They’ve been completely outplayed.

“I don’t think too many believed there was an upset on the cards.”

They may have the worst attack in the NRL, but the Dogs came together to humiliate the Dragons. Picture: Getty Images.

GOOD DOGS

The Stadium Australia ground announcer listed Canterbury’s premiership wins as the Bulldogs ran out for the start of the game.

It was a painful of reminder of what a great club it has been and how long it’s been between drinks – 17 years and counting.

But while the blue and whites don’t have the talent of other clubs, you can rarely question their heart.

They are determined to steer clear of the wooden spoon and, on this showing, that is still a viable proposition.

“There’s been a big change in attitude defensively and they carried that through,” delighted coach Trent Barrett said.

“It’s been a tough, difficult three months but we’ve got the opportunity to get better each week.

“Things are slowly starting to improve. What we’re going through at the moment will make us better down the track.”

Marshall-King, Averillo, Jack Hetherington and Luke Thompson really stood up to be counted as the Dogs produced their best all-round game in a year.

SIGN OF THE TIMES

There was a lone ‘Keep Dufty’ sign draped over a railing in one corner of Stadium Australia, but its owners might think twice about bringing it next week.

Matt Dufty’s defensive frailties – one of the big reasons he’s on his way out of the club – was on show early in the second half.

He bought a big goal-line dummy from Marshall-King, exposing teammate Daniel Alvaro in the defensive line and allowing the No.9 to coast over under the posts.

The softness of the try underlined just how bad the Dragons were – and how they again failed to aim up in a game they were expected to win.