The St George-Illawarra Dragons enter the NRL season among the favourites for the wooden spoon and face an uphill battle in 2021.
2020 Wrap
St George-Illawarra’s 2020 NRL campaign can only be described as a disappointing one, with the proud joint-venture finishing in 12th place and managing just 7 wins across the season.
One of those wins helped see off English international and NRL hard-man James Graham, who departed for the Super League after three seasons in the Red V. But it was a rare cause for celebration in a tumultuous year for the Dragons, who also farewelled – although in far less ceremonious terms – coach Paul ‘Mary’ McGregor. Dean Young filled in as caretaker for the remainder of the season.
It was also a year of debate in the St George-Illawarra region: the ongoing Jack de Belin saga and the effect it’s had on the club; over where Ben Hunt’s best position was; how to get the best out of Corey Norman. Without ever fully resolving these questions in 2020, the Red V faithful will be hoping new coach Anthony Griffin is the man with answers in 2021.
Predicted Profile
What will the St George-Illawarra Dragons look like and how will they play? We take a stab at profiling their playing style ahead of Round 1.
There’s only so much we can learn from looking at this squad on paper, and a first-half shutout by South Sydney in the Charity Shield gave the Dragons few chances to show us how they will attack in 2021. Still, there are a few key takeaways as we look towards the season proper. On the right edge, St George Illawarra will look to get the most out of a likely centre/wing pairing of Zac Lomax and Cody Ramsey.
The specialist centre is a rare breed in the modern game, and Lomax fits the bill.
Big, fast and skilful, he has a strong left-hand fend and a brilliant right-hand flick-pass to put his winger away down the sideline. Although still with plenty of questions around his readiness for first-grade, Ramsey is a classy finisher and more than quick enough to take full advantage of that Lomax flick-pass. Their combination was on show in Saturday’s trial, and we’ll be expecting the pair to see plenty of ball throughout the season.
In the forwards, the Dragons are largely one-dimensional and subsequently quite predictable.
Starting middle-forwards Blake Lawrie, Josh Kerr and Paul Vaughan combined for just 63 general-play passes in 55 games of footy between them last year per Fox Sports Lab. To put this in perspective, Jesse Bromwich – hardly known as a ball-playing front-rower – threw 101 himself in 19 games for the Storm last season. It’s no secret new coach Anthony Griffin has opted for a barge and charge approach to the yardage battle in 2021. Off the back of this, the Dragons have two likely attacking options.
Matt Dufty sniffing around the ruck is sure to be one of them.
He is lightning quick, and although his long pass to the winger has netted a few points in recent memory, Dufty is undeniably at his best when supporting through the middle and running the ball himself.
The other tactic we’ll be looking for is the short kicking games of Ben Hunt, Corey Norman or Jayden Sullivan. Hunt tried it once in the Charity Shield, and although the passage was clunky, it almost produced points when Ramsey found space down the sideline.
Cross-field chips to Lomax or little grubbers back in behind the ruck for Dufty look likely to be a feature of St George’s attack in 2021.
2021 NRL Notepad
Jason Oliver cracks open his notepad to find a key player, style or stat to keep an eye on this season.
Mikaele Ravalawa
I was mightly impressed with Mikaele Ravalawa in 2020. The issues and errors that plagued his game and voided so many of his positive plays throughout 2019 were no more. He made 29 errors in 19 games in 2019. Ravalawa cleaned up his act to make just 16 errors in 16 games in 2020.
I wrote about his improvements after he did this in Round 17:
To sum up the broader article: The Dragons “now have a legitimate first-grade winger on the right edge, the incoming Dragons coach has a strong strike weapon out wide to work with.”
I put him at the top of the Most Improved Player conversation:
I’m not sure there is a player in the competition that has improved more in the last 12 months than Mikaele Ravalawa.
— Jason Oliver (@JasonNRL) September 6, 2020
To Mary’s credit, he stuck with him through some absolutely dire performances. The next coach will benefit.
He didn’t play again in 2020 and failed to make the starting side for the Red V’s Charity Shield trial game to start 2021…
An excellent finisher who is more than willing to take a tough carry within his 144 running metres per game, Ravalawa has all of the skills to be a successful modern-day winger. The NRL is desperate to speed the game up. Middle forwards, in particular, will struggle to get back and contribute in hard sets away from their line. It’s an area Ravalawa provides a lot of value. His assumed replacement, Cody Ramsey, not so much.
Ravalawa appears to be on the outer at the Dragons. Meanwhile, Ramsey has just signed a lengthy extension with the club. It might take a few weeks for Ravalawa to find a place in the team, but I’m curious to see how he responds when he is eventually given another chance.
“Heads In” 2021
Oscar Pannifex unpacks a scrum of three key questions ahead of the 2021 NRL season.
Centre-Field Scrum – What’s centre-frame in the Rugby League lens this season?
After getting excited about watching Jack Bird in a Tyrone Peachey-style roaming lock role this season, it was a little deflating to see him line up in the centres on Saturday night.
St George Illawarra’s most significant signing for the 2021 season had some nice touches in his return to the NRL following repeat ACL injuries. He also missed the mark with several poor defensive efforts on the edges – though admittedly against a red-hot South Sydney attack.
Rather than focus on those errors, let’s take a look at what he can do.
He runs a good line outside Tariq Sims here to isolate Campbell Graham, latching onto Dufty’s pass and crashing through two defenders before passing to Jordan Peirara in the corner.
Strong and skillful, this is what Bird will bring to the Dragons in 2021.
Even without an overlap, Bird’s ability to create something from nothing is a good sign for a club that struggled for points last season. A centre pairing of Bird and Lomax has the potential to be one of the most dangerous in the competition. Whether the Dragons can afford to keep their star-signing in the outside backs long-term – in an era where ruck speeds often dictate results – remains to be seen.
Right Scrum-Line – Who is feeling the pressure this season?
You’ve probably guessed the topic of this segment already.
Coach Anthony Griffin’s first and most important challenge will be deciding on his first-choice spine as Matt Dufty, Ben Hunt, Corey Norman, Adam Clune, Jayden Sullivan and Andrew McCullough jostle for play-making roles.
The upside to this conundrum is St George’s strong depth in key positions as injuries take a toll throughout the season. The downside is that a lack of continuity and familiarity in these key positions was a weakness of the Dragons’ 2020 campaign, and it doesn’t feel any closer to being settled. Even Cody Ramsey has been talked up as an option at five-eighth following his re-signing over the offseason.
At his peak, Hunt can be the halfback and captain St George so desperately need in 2021.
We got a glimpse of his play-making best on Saturday night. Clune runs from dummy-half to hold up the lone marker before passing to Hunt who is pushing up over the ad line. This is where Hunt is at his most dangerous – playing at the line and looking to run himself. He fakes to Norman on the inside and bursts into space, but the final pass to Dufty is wayward, and Souths are let off the hook.
Hunt’s pass could’ve been better. He could’ve angled back towards Dufty before releasing the ball. And Dufty himself could’ve been closer to make the pass a little simpler. The result? Another half-chance went begging for the Dragons, who left far too many points on the field in 2020.
Hunt seems assured of the #7 jersey heading into Round 1, and that confidence will do him a world of good. Getting the right mix of playmakers around him is the key to getting the best out of Hunt – and the Dragons – in 2021.
Left Scrum-Line – My left-field thought for the season
While I’m loathed to throw another name into the Dragons’ play-making selection headache for 2021, here we are.
Just days after his shock release to the Sharks for 2022, Cam McInnes’ season-ending injury led St George to pick up veteran hooker Andrew McCullough on a bargain deal. While he might be on the decline, McCullough is still a tough-as-nails competitor who delivers quality service to his halves. We also saw Adam Clune spend some time at hooker during the Charity Shield, but there’s a forgotten name on the Dragons’ roster that I’ll be hoping gets a start in 2021.
Billy Brittain arrived at St George Illawarra at the beginning of last year on a train-and-trial deal and earned a two-year contract after impressing in the preseason trials. A diminutive running hooker, Brittain was named the 2019 NSW Cup Player of the Year and had some nice touches in his first-grade cameos to date, though his chances were limited with McInnes holding down the #9 jersey.
Fast forward 12 months, and Brittain now looks a chance to add to his five appearances for the Red V in 2021.
Peak, Pass, Pit
Oscar and Jason give their predicted peak for the Dragons in 2021 along with a pass mark and worst-case scenario.
Peak
9th: The Dragons have a way to go before entering finals conversations, for me. The backline Griffin has assembled for 2021 looks promising, but their forward pack might struggle to match it with the top teams. A ninth-place finish looks the ceiling for the Dragons this season. ~OP
Finals Fairytale: It’s that kind of competition. It looks as though a handful of teams will be flirting with the bottom of the Top 8 this season. An injury or two in the teams above them and a better-than-expected season themselves could put the Dragons within touching distance of a finals spot. ~JO
Pass
12th: A repeat of last year’s placing is the pass mark for St George Illawarra in 2021. Their defence last year was actually better than four teams who finished above them on the ladder, which should give the Dragons some hope entering this season considering the strike they’ve added to their edges. ~OP
11th-12th: It’s going to take Matthew Dufty adding more than a long-ball to his game in good ball while Ben Hunt also needs a big boost in form, but the Dragons can grind out a similar season to the last if a handful of players exceed expectations with the ball while keeping their 8th-ranked defence from last season. ~JO
Pit
Wooden Spoon: St George Illawarra are at real risk of collecting the wooden spoon in 2021. So much hinges on two maligned halves to pull it all together, and that’s dangerous territory for playmakers in the NRL. Griffin has also been out of the coaching game for a long time, and his suitability to the modern era is yet to be proven. ~OP
Wooden Spoon: The Dragons seem to be the consensus pick for the spoon in 2021. To me, that’s a good thing for the Red V faithful. No code is more unpredictable than the NRL and everyone tipping the same thing suggests something is being missed. They do look like a wooden spoon team on paper and after their trials, though… ~JO
*All stats from NRL.com/Stats unless stated otherwise