The Sydney Morning Herald’s Andrew Webster has revealed that the St George Illawarra Dragons board have begun talks in appointing a new coach.
Current Dragons coach Anthony Griffin is firmly under the spotlight entering the 2023 season after a disappointing season last year and an off-season marred in controversy.
Webster said that if Griffin were to lose his job, the Dragons have already identified Sydney Roosters assistant Jason Ryles as a replacement.
“The poor old Dragons, for the last couple of years, (the consensus) seems that Griffin will possibly be the first coach to be sacked,” Griffin said on SEN 1170 Mornings.
“For the last two seasons, Anthony Griffin has started with this spectre about his position.
“If not Anthony Griffin, then who?
“I know for a fact that there is interest at board level for Jason Ryles.
“He has been an assistant coach to Craig Bellamy, he’s been an assistant coach to Eddie Jones and is now an assistant to Trent Robinson.
“He’s been doing it for 10 years and he’s ripe for the job.
“He’s been linked to the Melbourne job if it came up.
“He’s a Wollongong junior, he played a lot of football there and was a proud Dragons player for a lot of years. He’d be great.
“He’s more of a Craig Fitzgibbon than an Adam O’Brien.
“He’s been waiting and eyeing off the best positions that have been coming up.”
The Dragons are one of the favourites to take home the wooden spoon after a shocking Charity Shield loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs and two players involved in a verbal argument in Mudgee that the club described as “unacceptable.”
Webster said he had less of an issue with the argument but rather the weak performance during a trial match.
“I’m more worried about how they played to be honest," he said.
“The way they played in the Charity Shield was diabolical.
“The telling comment of the whole weekend was that the halftime report coming out of the Dragons shed was Griffin saying that his team didn’t want it enough.
“It’s February. If they don’t want it in February then how the hell are they going to want it in September.
‘Anthony Griffin has to ask why?
“It’s not the sign you want in a final trial match.”