Paul Kent: Tyrell Sloan missed tackle exposes hypocrisy of Dragons coach Anthony Griffin’s critics

Lazy critics used Anthony Griffin’s decision to drop Tyrell Sloan last year as proof he had fallen out with their emerging talent. Now it’s been proven an act of kindness, PAUL KENT writes.

Tyrell Sloan and Anthony Griffin.

The patience of a coach for a player is the last to go in rugby league.

Which is a cruel kind of irony as, when trouble starts, the patience of a club for a coach is usually the first to go, with no real consideration for the player’s part in it all.

Take a look at the curious case of Anthony Griffin, fighting again for his job after St George Illawarra lost to Canterbury on Sunday.

The goldythroats on talkback radio opened the lines on Monday and the acid-breathers immediately piled in, declaring they have seen enough and that Griffin has to go, that the coach must be sacked immediately.

Dragons fans are a tortured species.

Except for a brief era when Wayne Bennett sat at the helm they have suffered for the best part of 40 years, driven by a hangover from an era that will never come again when the likes of Raper, Langlands, Gasnier and Provan suggested the club had a veggie patch out back that constantly sprouted Immortals.

Jake Averillo turns around Tyrell Sloan on his way to the tryline. Picture: Matt King/Getty

With that in mind the backroom yelp is that Griffin is a dead man walking and has been for some time. The Dragons won’t sack him this season but he certainly won’t be coaching next season.

About a year ago, Griffin dropped Tyrell Sloan as gently as a player could be dropped.

Griffin defended his fullback throughout, saying he was 19 and still learning the game and that he needed time to develop, and that it was nothing more than that.

By way of reference he pointed out some of the better talented players that have passed through this game.

“Everyone is impatient and that’s just the way we live these days … football, life everything. Everybody wants to see a 21-year-old be able to guide their team,” Griffin said on NRL360 last year.

“The closest we’ve seen to that is (Nathan) Cleary and that’s why he’s so special. He’s never been dropped, he came in at 18 and now as a 23, 24 he’s a master of his craft …

“Think back to (Cooper) Cronk and (Johnathan) Thurston and Ben Hunt, it took them until they were 23 and the three of them started as bench players … but if they’re good people and they work hard and they’ve got some ability, if you can stick with them they’ll get you somewhere.”

It made good sense to everyone but Sloan.

By the end of the year Sloan wanted out. He asked for a release.

Dragons fans used it as another reason to chase out Griffin given he was now falling out with their emerging talent.

This is the battle coaches find themselves in. Sloan’s talent with the football in his hands was obvious and Griffin, despite the pressure on him, was coaching him for the long-haul.

Dragons officials got nervous, though, and went to market.

So Sunday comes and Jake Averillo busts through the Dragons’ line on a straight run to the tryline with only Sloan to stop him.

Dragons coach Anthony Griffin.

He failed to land even a shoulder on him.

It wasn’t even a particularly devastating step from Averillo. A slight in and away and Sloan barely got a shoulder on him.

If that wasn’t bad enough later the Bulldogs shifted the ball quickly and Averillo was sent down the sideline with Sloan coming across in cover.

This time, he failed to even land a hand on him.

Despite having the superior speed of the two, Sloan still had no idea how to position Averillo to get the angle to cut him down.

Averillo simply hit the brakes, Sloan carried on past and Averillo shifted direction infield to score.

Suddenly, Griffin’s concerns didn’t look so bad.

A lifetime ago a fellow called Jack Gibson realised half the game played is defence.

No point scoring four tries if you let in five, and with that the game went through an evolution.

Few fans watch the game from a defensive point of view, though.

Sloan can’t manage more than a jersey grab on Averillo. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

They instead hear a coach is going to drop a player like Sloan so he can work on his deficiencies and they recall his wonderful ball-running and think the coach has gone mad.

Perhaps another way to judge Griffin’s job is to realise that only twice this season have the Dragons been outscored in tries, the 40-18 loss to Brisbane (round three) and the 40-8 loss to Cronulla (round four).

They lost 20-18 to Gold Coast after scoring three tries each, lost 20-14 to Canberra with three tries apiece, outscored the Sydney Roosters five tries to four but lost 27-26 and then against the Bulldogs on Sunday went down by two points despite each team scoring three tries each.

A quality goalkicker could have turned all four games the Dragons’ way and have them sitting equal first with Brisbane.

Even a fair split would have them in the logjam of teams on 10 points sharing seventh to 11th.

One more tackle made last Sunday, and another story could be told as well.