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Admittedly, it’s a hot field for long-suffering Dragons fans.
But the most galling thing of all in the club’s current plight might be the jealous glances across the back fence at two of their closest neighbours and fellow underachievers of the past decade.
At the end of 2023, Wests Tigers, the Dragons and Bulldogs finished 17th, 16th and 15th respectively.
Even with another Tigers wooden spoon since, two of the three clubs have rebuilt, revamped and recruited their way out of the mire.
St George Illawarra shot up to within a win or so of the 2024 finals, shot right back down and sit once again with a coach in the crosshairs, a badly misshapen roster and seemingly once more years of rebuilding ahead of them.
Another demoralising loss to Manly on Friday could well hasten what feels an inevitable end for Shane Flanagan, though the Dragons’ hierarchy has stressed its support for the coach throughout an 0-5 start to the year.
Behind the scenes, officials talk of significant club-wide change, just as Canterbury and Wests Tigers counterparts did for years.
But where the Bulldogs rebuild gathered momentum with the signings of Matt Burton, Viliame Kikau, Reed Mahoney and Stephen Crichton – and with Cameron Ciraldo coaching astutely and Phil Gould able to sell ice to the eskimos – the Dragons’ big-money recruits are among their biggest problems.
The Tigers remain only five minutes away from another boardroom blow-up, with Shane Richardson’s exit as CEO still fresh in the memory. But Jarome Luai, Api Koroisau, the May brothers and Fainu trio form a core of signings devoted to coach Benji Marshall, having joined the club to play under him.
Struggling clubs have forever had to pay “overs” to land game-changing recruits. Canterbury and the Tigers – and the list of star signings above – are no exceptions.
Neither are St George Illawarra. Keaon Koloamatangi arrives in 2027 on a five-year, $5 million-plus deal, with the Dragons offering an extra season that the Rabbitohs and Eels baulked at.
Koloamatangi is their first marquee signing after years of scrambling and coming up short in a scrapper’s market. But that won’t necessarily change now either.
Under Flanagan and predecessor Anthony Griffin, the Dragons have notably signed a cast of veteran recruits, often with their previous clubs paying freight to move them on.
Valentine Holmes (30), Clint Gutherson (31) and Damien Cook (34) were signed in late-2024 with Flanagan valuing their experience and professionalism, and each offering exactly that for much of last year.
Lining them up alongside a bright crop of local juniors (Dylan Egan, Kade Reed, Hamish Stewart and the Couchman twins) was sound enough as Flanagan reshaped a roster to play his preferred tough, reasonably conservative, effort-based footy.
But with Holmes struggling for form, a salary of about $900,000 to play centre (typically one of the cheaper positions to fill in an NRL roster) is a millstone and a figure that dwarfs the Dragons’ investment in their halves.
Especially when Gutherson is on similar money without any chip-in from Parramatta. While he is playing his backside off as always, he looks increasingly off the pace as an NRL fullback.
Holmes and Gutherson are signed until the end of 2027 and, like Cook, their best years are behind them, which each of their previous clubs could see.
The Ben Hunt saga from two years ago, meanwhile, has left the Dragons hunting for a halfback when there is a dire shortage of them.
Cronulla had been eyeing a potential shift to fullback for Daniel Atkinson – a move that could have suited his running game far better than the game-managing No.7 role the Dragons are paying about $500,000 a year for.
An elite playmaker has been on Flanagan’s wishlist for some time, but privately player agents point to the way Lachlan Ilias and Jonah Glover couldn’t get a look in at the Dragons as reason to shop their clients elsewhere.
The suggestion Kyle Flanagan could tip Atkinson out of the halfback role – as underwhelming as he was against the Cowboys – if he’s fit to return from a heavy head knock, will do nothing to dispel that, even if Flanagan is the club’s best organising No.7.
With Flanagan senior’s future under the microscope, an email landed with relevant player managers on Sunday telling them all extension talks with the Dragons are on hold for now, including well-advanced negotiations on Cook’s new one-year deal.
Prop Blake Lawrie and Luciano Leilua are the biggest earners on St George Illawarra’s off-contract list and two of their best-paid forwards, along with Queensland Origin representative Jaydn Su’A (who has an option for 2027 in his favour).
The club’s new recruitment boss, Daniel Anderson, has room to move with their roster and an impressive track record in fostering the generation of young forwards and playmakers emerging at the Roosters.
But he is also wading into a market where player values are skewed by the new Perth and PNG franchises, the latter with lucrative tax exemptions.
The Dragons are rightly staking plenty on their latest crop of juniors, too. But again, it’s not for the first time that line has been pushed.
Bud Sullivan, Junior Amone and Tyrell Sloan were the last batch of south coast stars touted for big things. Sloan is now the only one left at the club, but was given permission to explore an early exit last year (albeit with serious off-field incidents rubbing Amone out of the game).
Beleaguered Dragons fans could be forgiven reasonable scepticism too regarding the club’s recent backline targets, Titans veteran Phil Sami and Dolphins utility Trai Fuller, who would come with more speed than star power.
As galling as it might be, at least the Bulldogs and Tigers offer hope, and maybe instruction, in how to turn a roster around.
