Shake up needed as Dragons flops combine for a multimillion-dollar fail

The Dragons have been let down by two of their highest-paid players as a former star urged new coach Anthony Griffin to wield the axe.

Ben Hunt and Corey Norman have failed to fire.

Former NRL star Michael Ennis has called on incoming Dragons coach Anthony Griffin to shake up St George’s struggling halves pairing after the Red V’s embarrassing loss to Newcastle on Sunday.

The Knights thumped the Dragons 42-18 and they now sit 13th with one game remaining of a miserable season that saw coach Paul McGregor sacked midway through the year.

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Caretaker coach Dean Young has criticised his team’s inconsistency since taking over and Ennis believes a large part of that is down to halfback Ben Hunt and five-eighth Corey Norman.

Hunt is on a five-year deal worth roughly $1.2 million a season while Norman commands approximately $800,000 — so $2 million all up this year. Hunt signed a bumper $6 million deal to come down from the Broncos while Norman inked a three-year contract worth more than $2 million in 2018 — meaning the Dragons have spent about $8 million in total on the pair.

However, they haven’t earnt those pay packets.

Norman has been rocks and diamonds while many pundits agree Hunt’s best position is actually hooker — and Ennis says something needs to change if the Dragons’ fortunes are to improve in 2021, including letting Norman go and thinking really carefully about whether Hunt is the answer at No. 7.

“The effort from their highest paid players, Ben Hunt and Corey Norman, defensively on edges, they (the Knights) just waltzed through them,” Ennis said on the Big League Wrap.

“I do (think Norman should be let go), I think it’s come to that point in time. It’s time for a change, time for a roster change.

“Seeing Ben Hunt again over the last fortnight go into the halves, given what I saw from him and how confident I was in him as a No. 9, today was his seventh appearance for the season in the halves and they haven’t won a game with him in the halves.

“I know Ben wants to play halfback, but Anthony Griffin is going to have to have some really big conversations.

“I know he’s already come out and said he thinks Ben is a halfback, but what he’s seen over the last fortnight I think there will be some conversations had with him in November, and there has to be a hard conversation with Corey Norman.

“I don’t believe they can get to where they want to get to with that halves pairing.”

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The Dragons have been let down by their playmakers.

Griffin coached Hunt at Brisbane and believes he can be a top-draw first receiver, but whether that’s the best fit for the team next season remains to be seen.

The under-fire halves weren’t the only ones facing the blowtorch after the convincing loss to Newcastle as Young let loose in his post-match press conference.

“It was just under-8s stuff. In the end they made 265 tackles and we made 406. So you’re going to get some poor defensive stuff and fundamental errors when you’re making that many tackles,” Young said.

“But that’s not an excuse. We are much better than that and the players know it.

“When you’re letting in soft tries it’s sort of a reflection of what the game means to you. Have we had enough? Or are we still wanting to fight to the death?

“Look, I didn’t see it coming. I honestly thought we could win today. But the players are lacking a bit of belief so don’t belief they can win at the moment.

“We’ve been losing for two years now so the belief is not there that we can go out and beat the top sides.

“But effort could be a lot better across the board.”