NRL 2020: Cameron McInnes gives Paul McGregor the jersey off his back in perfect Dragons farewell

Former St George Illawarra Dragons coach Paul McGregor went out a winner but his emotion-packed gift was the perfect farewell.

This has to be the pool room pic for both McGregor and McInnes.

The St George Illawarra Dragons’ sent coach Paul McGregor out a winner on Friday night with a 14-12 win over the Parramatta Eels but vision has emerged of the emotional scenes in the dressing room.

Vision of McInnes presenting McGregor his jersey was quickly used as an example of the heartfelt scenes in the Dragons change rooms.

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But the Dragons’ social media team revealed what was said in a video released on Saturday afternoon.

McGregor was told he would no longer be needed earlier in the week, despite having a season to run on his contract.

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Club captain McInnes gave the club stalwart the jersey off his back with a heartfelt speech to his teammates.

“When I was at Souths, I remember reading an article saying something along the lines that Cameron McInnes doesn’t have it,” he said to his teammates.

“I think Mary actually called me, which was tampering at the time, but he had faith in me, brought me to the club and always believed in me and gave me everything. Coach, you gave me my first jersey at the club, I just want you to …”

The audio was raw and hard to hear as the players start clapping but it sounds like “… my last one”.

A powerful moment between captain and coach 🐉 #redv pic.twitter.com/WvqwgpF8a6

— St George Illawarra Dragons (@NRL_Dragons) August 15, 2020

It’s a tremendous gesture from the club captain as his teammates gave a standing ovation

McGregor’s audio is even harder to hear but told McInnes “You typify everything that a footballer is to me Cameron”, and told the team they have “a strong person” to lead them.

It was emotional scenes as McGregor was quickly embraced by his team after pulling off a gutsy win over the high-flying Eels.

McInnes, despite being on the field, was one of the first to greet his now former coach.

He told Channel 9 what McGregor means to him.

“When I was at Souths, I probably didn’t play the footy I could have and should have for whatever reason, but Mary wanted me and he gave me that chance,” he said.

“He had faith in me and believed in me so ever since I’ve been at the club, I wanted to repay that faith to him and that’s why it got pretty emotional over there coming straight out to him because he means everything to me.”

McGregor was pretty happy with his farewell gift.

McGregor was asked if there were tears, saying there were “too many in the last 48 hours”.

“It was a nice way to finish my career with the club,” he said. “The players are pretty emotional in there. There was a lot of talk that they weren’t playing for me but that was too far from the truth and they showed that tonight.

“We had a little presentation in there and Cam (McInnes) presented me his jumper which is probably one of the best presents I’ve ever got in my life from a person that I admire the way he plays the game and leads the club.”

Illawarra Mercury sports editor said the video showed “Whatever the Dragons do next, they should sign McInnes for life.”