NRL 2020: Dragons signing targets: Joe Ofahengaue, James Tamou
New St George Illawarra coach Anthony Griffin has pinpointed the forward pack as an area of improvement, with one player in particular catching his eye in recent times.
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Joe Ofahengaue looms as St George Illawarra’s next major signing target as the club also moves to revamp its junior development pathways as part of a major reshaping of its identity under new coach Anthony Griffin.
The controversial team selection policy which led to former coach Paul McGregor’s exit from the club will also be axed while Ben Haran will be promoted to St George Illawarra’s general manager of football.
Griffin will oversee the progression of St George Illawarra juniors as the club prepares to mimic the set-up used by the Panthers that has helped develop a generation of stars.
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While Penrith has a large Western Sydney corridor to choose from, the Dragons want to capitalise on their own regions from the St George district to the south coast.
The Dragons are now into full planning mode for 2021 having appointed Griffin to a two-year deal after the ex-Broncos and Penrith mentor beat interim coach Dean Young and Newcastle assistant David Furner for the top job.
The blueprint includes:
NRL ROSTER AND STAFF
Griffin has already had discussions with Dragons officials about next year’s playing roster.
The Dragons have $1.5 million to fill about three roster spots next year. Ofahengaue is expected to be on top of the Dragons hit-list with Griffin a big fan of the Queensland representative having tracked his development at the Broncos.
They also spent time in the Tongan camp where Griffin worked as an assistant.
Griffin helped bring James Tamou to the Panthers with the Penrith skipper also on the Dragons’ long hit-list.
“One of the first steps is to get ours guys talking to Anthony to go through what we’ve got and the options we’ve got on the table,” chief executive Ryan Webb said. “The list has to suit him. That will all happen this week.”
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Assistant coaches Shane Flanagan and James Shepherd are off-contract at season’s end while the club is hopeful Young will fulfil at least the final 12 months of his deal.
One major change will involve Haran – who has worked in a variety of roles at the club – stepping into the general manager of football position. Ian Millward will remain heading up recruitment.
The Dragons will also scrap the controversial team selection committee.
“Team selection will operate how Anthony would like to operate it,” Webb said. Griffin will also play a leading handing in recruitment and retention.
REVAMPING PATHWAYS
When the Dragons have made a run to the finals they have been littered with local products and then topped with external players.
The 2010 premiership winning team featured 10 juniors. This year 13 of the 27 players used so far this year have come from within the Dragons system.
“We want to focus on what we need to do with our pathways and development at the Dragons academy,” Webb said.
“When a kid comes into our system at 15-16 they need to understand what it’s going to take to be an NRL player and a Dragons player. It needs to stay with them until they hopefully debut in our first grade team. Everyone says we have a great nursery. It’s about finding and developing that talent.
“We are going to be putting more resources into our kids.”
WHY GRIFFIN IMPRESSED
Webb said there were three areas of Griffin’s presentation which tipped the outcome his way.
“His focus on discipline and hard work and the fact he is an outside voice bringing that,” Webb said. “He was strong on the importance of junior development in the 16 to 19 year olds and the role the NRL coach plays around being visible, setting the standard and giving an understanding what it means to be a St George Illawarra Dragon.
“This change isn’t just through football. This is through the whole club. This is our time to embrace St Georg and Illawarra and come together. This is a really good time to grab our identity back so that everyone understand what St George Illawarra stands for.”
PLUMBER’S RED-V DREAM
“Dad, can you come to the game?”
It was the only question that mattered to excited St George-Illawarra rookie Cody Ramsey.
The 20-year-old phoned his father Jamie just moments after caretaker Dragons coach Dean Young told the young gun he was making his NRL debut against Canberra on Saturday in Wollongong.
Captured by Dragons TV, an ecstatic Jamie booked his seat at WIN Stadium by cursing and bursting with pride, laughing as he confirmed that he wouldn’t miss the moment his son had been working his life for.
Hailing from the same Orange CYMS junior club as opposition Raiders star Jack Wighton, Ramsey’s arrival to the NRL is the ideal tonic for a Dragons season cloaked by drama, dismay and yet another empty September.
The kid with the tied-back hair, who lit-up the pre-season NRL Nines in Perth as the tournament’s leading try scorer, represents light for the proud Red-V.
You just know incoming Saints coach Anthony Griffin will be watching the former apprentice plumber.
The thing is, Griffin won’t have to watch too closely to find Ramsey, who has been promoted into first grade on the wing, replacing Mikaele Ravalawa.
Ramsey, who was named the Dragons 2019 under-20s Player of The Year just two years after arriving at the club, plays with a fizz and an electricity that unlike others who prefer to wait for the ball; the game comes to him.
Such was his impact for the Dragons at the Nines, Ramsey turned a train and trial contract into a top-30 roster contract within one weekend.
Ill-timed shoulder surgery was required following the Nines, robbing Ramsey of the chance to keep riding his wave into the 2020 NRL season.
Yet the setback is also why Young and his assistant Shane Flanagan found themselves making the call-up decision on Tuesday.
“It’s a great example of someone working so hard to achieve their dream,’’ Flanagan said.
“If you see the video (of Ramsey telling his father), you’ll see to a man how they were cheering because we’ve all seen how hard he trains.
“He just trains so hard and he thoroughly deserves to play this kid. “The way he competes at training he doesn’t miss a beat. He’s got a huge aerobic fitness, he’s been one of the fittest players in the club.
“He listens and learns and I’m excited for him.
“Down the track he’s a fullback, but at the moment wing is a perfect stepping stone.’’
Young’s decision to blood the young talent in the NRL won’t be the last of the Dragons next-generation to taste first grade over the final rounds of the season.
Equally talented juniors Eddie Blacker and Max Feagai were also named on Young’s reserves list - a precursor to their possible selection in the next few weeks.