Tristan Sailor wants out of St George Illawarra Dragons
St George Illawarra have been rocked by another boom junior wanting out as a horde of loyal Dragons members issue the struggling club an ultimatum.
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St George Illawarra have been rocked by another boom junior wanting out.
Tristan Sailor joins the likes of fellow outside backs Jason Saab and Matt Dufty in agitating to leave the winless Dragons. Sailor, the son of dual-international Wendell Sailor, has not been seen in first grade this year despite the Dragons poor start to the year. He played three matches last year.
Saab’s has had repeated requests for a release denied.
The news comes as some fed-up St George Illawarra diehards have called time on their memberships.
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Agitated Dragons supporters have vowed to cancel their season tickets until there is a change of coach. Twelve-year member Anthony Paikan said he had reached out to the Dragons to tell them he and two friends were giving up their Kogarah season tickets unless the club went in a new direction.
He had hoped Tuesday’s board meeting meant a change in coach, aiming his frustrations at Paul McGregor.
“With all the discontent and how unhappy we are with the way things are going I think it’s time to stop financially assisting the club,” Paikan said. “We’ve had the same coach for seven years. That person has had a lack of results.
“If they were to fix the coaching situation immediately I would keep my memberships along with the two other people who are cancelling.”
Interstate member Peter Malone called time on his financial contribution to the club after they re-signed McGregor last year. When news broke of a potential coach change, Malone, of the Sunshine Coast, said he was close to renewing again this week.
“All we can do is cancel our subscription,” Malone said. “It just feels like our concerns are falling on deaf ears.
“As soon as soon they pull a decent coach in I’ll renewal. We just keep seeing the same stuff. I nearly clicked on (Tuesday) and I would’ve got the family membership. But I’m not going to do it not until the coach goes as harsh as that sounds.”
BOARD’S ULTIMATUM TO MARY
The public show of support from the Dragons board should be enough for McGregor to have the pressure eased and to help turn the club’s fortunes around according to boss Ryan Webb. McGregor told his players to ignore the outside noise and focus on regaining pride in their performance.
McGregor and football manager Ben Haran spoke to the group for the first time yesterday morning since the coach was speared the axe after a dramatic boardroom meeting on Tuesday. It was the first time the entire squad had come together since McGregor was told to continue as coach.
The Dragons board have rallied publicly behind the under-siege coach in a bid to quell the growing public discontent. Now it is up to the players to show the same faith in their coach, who has largely stuck-by them despite a string of poor performances.
Webb said the McGregor’s efforts had not been rewarded with results.
“Mary is working really hard,” Webb said of McGregor. “The full results early in the season were not due to lack of effort or passion from Mary’s part. Hopefully now that the board have come out and supported him the way that have it takes the pressure of and it allows things to turn.
“Hopefully we will start seeing success.”
Webb is also chasing a copy of Phil Gould’s review into the Dragons.
Meanwhile, St George Leagues Club boss Danny Robinson hosed down any suggestions the club could not afford to pay the $1 million needed to buyout the rest of McGregor’s deal. The Leagues Club tips in 50 per cent of the joint-venture alongside WIN and has about $19 million in the bank.
Robinson did not weigh into the future of the Dragons’ coach but said money was not the determining factor when weighing up McGregor’s future.
“St George Leagues club is extremely financially secure,” Robinson said. “We have no bank debt. In fact, the bank owes us. We have investment’s, we are trading well now the club is back open. The decisions that have to be made by the football cub don’t concern the leagues club financial ability.”