Anthony Griffin sick of the speculation about when he’ll lose his job with the Dragons
Some people are already calling for his head but after another week in the headlines St George Illawarra coach Anthony Griffin fires back.
Anthony Griffin has refused to buy into the speculation surrounding his future with the St George Illawarra coach declaring “I am enjoying my job here”.
Griffin’s position was again thrown into the headlines in recent days after it emerged he had been told prior to the start of the season that the club would explore alternative options.
While he won’t be asked to reapply for his position, Griffin knows his future is uncertain.
Only wins can give him a shot at extending his time at the club. Griffin did not want to expand on the situation when pressed ahead of Sunday’s local derby against the Sharks.
“That stuff – that’s come from the board,” Griffin said. “I have a job to do here. I started the year off-contract. Nothing has changed.
“I am enjoying my job here. We have a great playing group that’s looking for a big season. Any other questions you’d have to speak to where that story came from. If you want to talk about the game we’ll have a chat, but I’ve answered the other question. For me, it’s all about (Sunday).”
Griffin said his players “need to play well” after a win and loss to open their 2023 campaign.
The Dragons won’t rush any decision on their coach with the club expected to finalise a potential wish list within the next month before exploring all options.
The likes of former Dragons Jason Ryles, Ben Hornby and Dean Young are among the frontrunners should they make the move against Griffin.
In the meantime though, Griffin needs a strong performance against the Sharks. Cronulla are in the midst of a record five game winning streak against the Dragons with St George Illawarra having only won once against their arch rivals since 2018.
“It’s something we’re aware of,” Griffin said. “We want to turn that around. We had a reasonable start with the Titans and the first half against Brisbane. We were disappointed in the last 10 minutes.”
‘FRACTURED’ DRAGONS: INSIDE THE UGLY BACKROOM BICKERING
Only a month or so ago, St George Illawarra chair Andrew Lancaster insisted that the Dragons board was a united force.
They didn’t always agree, he said, but ultimately they sang from the same hymn sheet.
Good boards, Lancaster insisted, should provide opportunities for directors to have differing views on issues.
The day is fast approaching when we find out exactly how united they are. Revelations that the club has told Anthony Griffin that he is coaching for his future came as no surprise.
Griffin has been under the pump for months. A straw poll at the start of the season would have suggested that Griffin was skating on thin ice heading into round one.
Splitting his opening two games hasn’t exactly eased the pressure. After beating Gold Coast to open their season, the Dragons fell apart in the dying stages against Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium, all their good work undone in the final 10 minutes.
With every try, the sands shifted again under Griffin’s feet. His grip on the Dragons job weakened a little more. On Sunday night they face Cronulla at Jubilee Stadium and another defeat will heap pressure on the Dragons coach.
Yet if he is to go, St George Illawarra must plot a path forward and that will take a unified approach. The joint venture demands it. Under the terms of the merger between St George and Illawarra, the appointment of the coach must be a unanimous call.
There is room for debate but not for disagreement. They can butt heads but when push comes to shove, they need to be on the same page,
The directors must find a candidate and throw their support behind that person. One in, all in has to be the merger’s mantra. That may be harder than it sounds given talk that the Dragons board aren’t always on the same page.
The whispers out of St George Illawarra haven’t changed. For as long as the joint venture has been in existence, there have been suggestions they don’t always see eye-to-eye. Fractured is the common theme.
It adds another layer to the club’s potential search for a new coach. Should the club elect to move on from Griffin, there are obvious candidates with Dragons bloodlines in Jason Ryles, Dean Young and Ben Hornby.
There are proven premiership winners in Shane Flanagan, Des Hasler and Michael Maguire. The issue won’t be finding a suitable candidate. They will be queuing up at the door for the chance to take over the club.
That will be the easy part. The difficult part is likely to be agreeing on their preferred candidate. There are factions on the board who are known to favour the likes of Ryles and Hornby should they decide that Griffin is no longer the answer – that said, Ryles has a contract with the Roosters as an assistant and may be reluctant to break it.
There are others who may decide to head in another direction. The club has already told Griffin they will begin sourcing candidates and then whittle those down to a shortlist that may or may not be required.
Whether it is will depend on how Griffin and the Dragons perform over the next month or so. The incumbent won’t have to apply for his job because results will do that for him. Win and he gives himself every chance of staying in the role. Lose and the decision will be made for him.
The draw has been kind. After the Sharks, they face the Dolphins, Titans, Canberra, the Sydney Roosters, Bulldogs and Tigers over a six-week period. They should reasonably expect to win the vast majority of those games.
Griffin has been given every chance to reach the dreaded eight-game mark with a winning record. There are no excuses. If he can’t get it done, the club will step up their search for a replacement. Finding someone to step into the breach won’t be the issue.
Agreeing on one may be more of a challenge.
* * * * *
This column suggested some weeks ago that the answer to rugby league’s transfer system was to have a modified form of free agency rewarding players for the amount of time they have spent in the NRL.
The longer they have played first grade, the earlier they can sign with a rival club. It sounds like some within the NRL were paying attention.
Weekend Read can reveal talks between the NRL and RLPA over the potential introduction of a transfer window have now centred around allowing the longest serving players to still sign with rivals on the day they begin the last year of their contract at their existing clubs – November 1.
However, less experienced players would be forced to wait until June 30 to confirm a switch of camps. The concept has been tabled by club officials with a view to breaking the stalemate between the NRL and players union, which has resulted in the collective bargaining talks dragging on for months.
It is understood the negotiations are entering the final stages. As some club and NRL officials remarked on Thursday, it’s now down to the rats and filth. Things like who foots the bill for tertiary education and the like.
It would seem to suggest the whole discussion is close to resolution but we have thought that before and here we are, with talks still ongoing and industrial action never far from being threatened.
There is every chance the idea of a transfer window gets parked in order to make sure an agreement can be struck. It would be a small and temporary sacrifice to remove the cloud of uncertainty that has swirled around the game for months.
The NRL and RLPA have butted heads since late last year but the whole saga appears close to resolution. Now that would be cause for celebration.
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