The Dragons’ “inevitable” decision to split with Shane Flanagan and football department boss Ben Haran must be the beginning of an overhaul that brutally examines their recent recruitment strategy, according to Billy Slater.
Dean Young has taken over the coaching reins on an interim basis in what shapes as an audition for the full-time role. Slater believes the Dragons have still got plenty to play for this season if they can subscribe to some non negotiables.
However, speaking on Nine’s The Billy Slater Podcast, the legendary fullback pointed to some dubious recruitment decisions that had boxed the club into a corner, pointing to the two ageing representative stars in their spine.
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“If you want long-term success it comes down to recruitment, it comes down to a big picture scenario, a system where they’re all pulling in the same direction,” Slater said.
”And it comes down to your key position players. When you look at some of the recruits, like Clint Gutherson, he’s 32 this year, that’s a recruitment decision from the club. Damien Cook, he’s another key position player, he’s 35 this year…recently been recruited to the cub.
“And their two halves [Kyle Flanagan and Daniel Atkinson] are unproven at the top level in the NRL. They’re recruitment decisions for the club as well.”
Slater pointed to the Broncos’ premiership-winning spine from last season and Penrith’s current ladder-leading spine as a contrast to the key players the Dragons have on their roster.
“They’re elite, they’re proper elite players,” Slater added. “You couldn’t say that about the Dragons at the moment, I know they’ve got two senior players that have been elite but they’re coming to the end of their careers as well.”
The good news for the Dragons is that their roster is almost perfectly positioned for a relatively quick rebuild.
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Cook is off contract at the end of this season and negotiations for a new deal have been put on hold. Gutherson and the under-siege Valentine Holmes, on roughly $1.8 million-a-season between them, are both off contract at the end of next season, giving the new coach and head of football plenty of cash to splash to renovate their spine. The club has clarity for when November 1 comes around and a list of new players spring onto the market.
Big money forward Jaydn Su’A is leaving at the end of this season, while Tyrell Sloan is also off contract at the end of this year.
Kyle Flanagan and Lykhan King-Togia are off contract at the end of next season, while Daniel Atkinson and Kade Reed are both tied down until the end of 2028.
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There are very few big contracts holding the club hostage beyond next season, which gives the Dragons’ new hierarchy plenty of scope to shape the team in their image.
Moves are afoot to entice Scott Drinkwater to the club on a $1 million-a-season deal, with the Haran and Flanagan brains trust, alongside recruitment boss Daniel Anderson, already convinced it was time to move on from Gutherson in the No.1 jersey. If the Drinkwater deal doesn’t happen, the likes of Jahream Bula, Kalyn Ponga and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow all come off contract next year. The Dragons are one of the few clubs that will be in a position to throw silly money at them.
Elsewhere, Matt Burton and Blaize Talagi are off contract in 2027, as are Nathan Cleary – who has never before tested the market but has indicated he may be willing to this time – and Sam Walker.
There are also a handful of rep quality forwards who come onto the market on November 1. Even considering the two expansion clubs waiting in the wings, it’s a good time to have plenty of cap space and that’s the one competitive advantage the Dragons have over most the NRL at the moment.
The opportunity to rebuild the roster potentially adds to the lure of the full-time head coaching job that Young appears in pole position to win.
Slater says the interim coach could have an impact as early as Saturday’s traditional Anzac Day clash against the Roosters.
“I absolutely believe that the Dragons can still be competitive this year,” Slater said.
“There’s no reason why they can’t be competitive this year. And that doesn’t take talent. That’s why you can have a short-term hit of, not so much success but being in the contest, being in the game, and the last couple of weeks they just haven’t been in the game because of their attitude towards some hard parts of the game.
“It’s not a talent based thing. You have a look at some of the tries their opposition scored at the weekend – you don’t have to have a whole lot of talent to stop those tries.
“So, I think with Dean Young being appointed the interim coach, there’s no reason why he can’t come in and have an immediate impact on this playing group and create a bit of want to go out there and compete for long periods of time, so you can certainly have some short-term success, if you’d like to call it that, where your team’s in the game, and that’s what fans want to see, they want to see that they’re all in for their performance on that weekend. I think a few of the players couldn’t say that they’ve been all in for their performance on the weekends.”
