The 2022 NRL season isn’t far away so Oscar Pannifex and Jason Oliver are previewing all 16 clubs before Round 1. Up next, it’s the St. George Illawarra Dragons who start the year on an eight-game losing streak.
St. George Illawarra Dragons 2022 Season Preview:
- The 2021 NRL Season In 200 Words
- Predicted Profile In 2022
- Breakout Season Candidates: Tyrell Sloan, Zac Lomax
- Sections Wishlist: Jack de Belin at lock, Talatau Amone
- SuperCoach Game Theory
- Notepad: Where does Jack Bird fit?
- Predictions: Peak, Pass & Pit
The 2021 NRL Season In 200 Words
We’re looking back at the St. George Illawarra Dragons 2021 Season Review for a quick recap on how it all played out.
Four wins from five games was as good a start as any for new coach Anthony Griffin. He immediately justified the recruitment of otherwise unwanted talent in the form of Andrew McCullough, Josh McGuire, Jack Bird and Trent Merrin and the Red V army forgot about the impending departure of club favourite Cameron McInnes.
Then the wheels fell off.
It didn’t take long for opposition teams to figure out how to defend the Dragons. With Ben Hunt either on the sidelines or under huge pressure by opposition defenders as the lead playmaker, the Dragons struggled in attack. If Hunt wasn’t creating himself, the Dragons looked directionless and disorganized and, for the most part, failed to build pressure with the ball.
Their 11.4 average errors per game (4th most) is an accurate reflection of the way the backline linked up for most of the season – it didn’t. Too often we were left with a premeditated Matt Dufty cut-out pass on the last, and regular readers will know how we at RLW feel about that one.
The BBQ-gate was the story of the season and cruelled any chance – however unlikely – St. George Illawarra had of playing finals footy in 2021.
Predicted Profile In 2022
What will the Dragons attack look like this season? We take a stab at profiling their playing style ahead of Round 1 of the 2022 NRL season.
Over and underrating players is a trend. An array of factors – individual and team form, contract speculations, off-field dramas – determine what’s hot and what’s not in the rugby league sphere and for the most part, fans are happy to ride the waves.
Ben Hunt was decidedly not hot for a while there.
That dropped catch paired with a big-money move south in 2018 was the perfect storm for anti-Hunt rhetoric and that storm is only just passing. Hunt’s commanding form at Origin level certainly got the needle moving back the other way and I think his 2022 season will, too.
Hunt’s game is as well rounded as you’ll find in a halfback. He’s a genuine triple threat with a run, kick or pass and his defence is top line too. He’s been asked to do too much in the playmaking department since arriving at the Dragons and it’s hampered his offensive output at times. With a few more creative threats around him this year, Hunt is going to have a little more time and space.
Hunt and Tyrell Sloan linked up a few times around the ruck in the Charity Shield and to good effect. I can’t make out Sloan’s ceiling at the time of writing but Hunt is a guy who can help him reach it and they look placed to spearhead the Dragons’ attack in 2022.
Another promising addition to this playmaking combination is Jack Bird and the point-of-difference he offers in the backrow. This little action midway through the first half was easy to miss but it points towards something we should see more of in 2022.
The pass from Bird to Sloan was clearly premeditated and suggests they and Hunt have spent some time practising trick shots like this over the offseason. As the year progresses and these combinations gel, I think we’re going to see this trio create a few points in 2022. Expect to see Hunt playing on the ball in a first receiver role either side of the ruck, linking with Bird and Sloan on the left or Talatau Amone and Zac Lomax on the right.
Let’s talk about that right edge for a moment. The Zac Lomax/Mikaele Ravalawa combination should be one of the more potent attacking pairings in the NRL and 2022 could be the year it happens.
Lomax is almost impossible to defend one-on-one where his footwork, strength and flick pass consistently make a mockery of edge defenders. Throw in an unmarked 184cm, 106kg finisher waiting on his outside and you’ve got one of the more reliable and repeatable attacking actions in the competition. It’s crucial Lomax and Ravalawa play 20+ games this season and it’s even more crucial that St. George Illawarra effectively involve them in their attacking structures.
While it sounds like all lollipops and rainbows when the Dragons attack in good ball, getting there is a different story. Anthony Griffin’s side ranked 15th in the NRL in yardage last season running for just 1,539 metres per game. Translating into only 24 tackles inside the opposition 20-metre line per game (also 15th in the NRL), the Dragons will need to generate a lot more through the middle if they’re to give their attacking weapons a chance to fire.
Griffin is going old-school with his yardage game and employing crashers and bashers to charge through the middle. That can be effective provided Jack de Belin plays a significant role in how they move the ball from one side of the field to the other. Sloan is an excellent supporting fullback who can capitalise on any half-breaks or offload’s the big boppers in the middle can make.
The Dragons have an interesting Top 30. They could go a number of ways with how they approach their attack. It might not be clear which way they’ve gone in the early rounds but there is potential to score points if they land on a winning formula.
~ Oscar & Jason
Breakout Season Candidates
Some started to breakout in 2021 while others are ripe and ready to announce themselves to the NRL in 2022. Oscar and Jason highlight one player they think will take a leap this season.
Oscar: Tyrell Sloan
I am so excited to see Tyrell Sloan play consistent first grade this year. We got a sneak peek of what’s to come in his five NRL appearances last season and it was good enough for the Dragons to fast-track his development into their Top 30 squad for 2022.
In his first five games at fullback, Sloan scored six tries, laid on two more and broke 13 tackles. He immediately became a target for St. George Illawarra in attack with a short kick in behind the line or as a support player around the ruck. He also made a number of try-saving tackles on much bigger men, impressing with his positional play and defensive technique on his own line.
If the Charity Shield is anything to go by, the Dragons have spent all summer finding ways to involve Sloan in attack. When he wasn’t pushing up around the ball in yardage sets, Sloan switched himself out to the wing and collected a short attacking kick that marched his team 80 metres upfield.
He also looked very slick in more conventional fullback actions like this:
Consistently icing those three-v-two’s is what separates the good fullbacks from the greats. Darius Boyd made a career out of it at three different clubs while for others it’s a skill that doesn’t come so naturally (St. George Illawarra’s previous fullback comes to mind). Sloan, on the other hand, looks like he could do it in his sleep. I didn’t know he had this sort of ballplaying about him but this was promising and I can’t wait to see what Sloan does over the next 25 weeks… or more.
Jason: Zac Lomax
This guy just needs to spend some time on the field.
We didn’t see the best of Zac Lomax in 2021 as he was kept to only 12 NRL games. He can cement himself as one of the best-attacking centres in the competition if he can stay healthy this year, though.
As teams look to move the ball wide and early into a set, Lomax can send his winger streaking down the sideline from anywhere on the field. His skip to the outside of his man to draw in the opposition winger before releasing an offload is the sort of action I’m expecting to see plenty of this year.
He’s a threat even if the defence does manage to close him down, too.
How did he get this one away?
Lomax became a bit of a forgotten man last year; out of sight, out of mind. When he did return from injury, he joined a horrible Dragons team that many had given up watching by that point. It’s not going to be long before he’s being talked about as a State of Origin hopeful if he hits the ground running – and stays on the ground – in 2022.
Section Wishlist
Whether it be likely or unlikely, good or bad, Jason and Oscar have a couple of players on their selection wishlist in 2022.
Oscar: Jack de Belin at lock
I’m pretty bullish on this one. It gets the most out of Jack de Belin’s skillset as a ballplaying middle and is the best fit for this Dragons squad in my opinion.
St. George Illawarra have a pack of big bodies who only know one way with the ball. There’s not a heap of skill between Aaron Woods, Blake Lawrie, George Burgess and Francis Molo but there is size. Having a player like de Belin who can take these guys with him when he digs into the line is going to do a few things.
De Belin’s ballplaying ability immediately legitimises the decoy run of a Woods or a Burgess beside him, and with defenders wary of the pass de Belin usually gets a few more seconds to ball-play or a few more metres to take for himself. If they disregard the support runner then de Belin can play short and generate some ruck speed and if they crowd the ball then a Ben Hunt or Tyrell Sloan will have all the more room to play out the back.
Jack Bird at #13 looks like a good idea on paper but he’s such a running threat that an edge role is starting to make more sense. Particularly when you can bring Bird into the middle to rest de Belin and bring on a fresh Jaydn Su’A or Tariq Sims midway through the piece. It feels like the best fit for the side Anthony Griffin has quickly assembled since joining the club and I think they’re far better than what some pre-season predictions are suggesting.
Jason: Talatau Amone
The 19-year-old looks very, very good.
Heaping pressure onto a youngster so often ends up in disappointment as expectations rise to prime halfback levels despite halfbacks not typically peaking until after their 27th birthday.
Talatau Amone still has eight birthday cakes to get through before then. Hopefully, he is given the time to develop his game because he appears to have stacks of potential.
His running game is dangerous. He has a great step on him and his legs don’t stop moving at contact. The youngster is going to push through some lazy tackles once or twice throughout the year. From there, his ball-playing will become a factor. He still has a lot to learn about halfback play but he already plays with a level of patience that is encouraging to see in a 19-year old.
It’s unlikely that Amone strings it all together every week. There will be games he struggles and leans heavily on Ben Hunt (an ideal partner for the young five-eighth right now). It’s important that Anthony Griffin doesn’t react too harshly to one or two quiet games and allows him to develop alongside Hunt as much as possible this year.
SuperCoach Game Theory
RLW is venturing into the fantasy space this year and Oscar will be keeping a rolling watch list from week-to-week. Not everything translates from field to fantasy but if something catches my eye or there’s value hiding somewhere, it’ll go on the list.
Zac Lomax ($496,800) – If he can stay on the field I think Lomax will be one of the better centres in SuperCoach this season. He’s a key attacking player in this Dragons side and his most reliable and repeatable attacking action is the skip to the outside and flick pass. In SC terms, that’s usually a few tackle busts, an offload, a linebreak assist and usually a try assist. Get him in your side.
Jack Bird ($498,600) – Always SuperCoach relevant because of his attacking upside, but I’m still on the fence with this one. Unlikely to get an 80-minute role unless Hook uses him between the edge and the middle. Bird’s utility value has sometimes been the downfall of his SC scoring and so I’m watching to see how he’s used this year. Definite potential.
Ben Hunt ($590,300) – If he stays fit I think Hunt is in for a big year. He’s finally got support in key attacking positions which for me says upside for Hunt in 2022. He will take a leading playmaker’s role and his combination with Sloan, in particular, will be one to watch.
Tyrell Sloan ($447,500) – At 14% ownership, it’s no secret that Sloan is a SuperCoach prospect in 2022. The price is a little awkward for some but he has so much upside as a key attacking player in this Dragons side. He’s going to make me some coin for now but I won’t be surprised to finish the season with him either.
Talatau Amone ($284,500) – Cheap as chips, looks certain of a starting halves position and is available in the CTW position for SC. He’s unlikely to be a keeper but there’s serious cash to be made on his starting price.
2022 NRL Notepad
Jason has pulled the wrapper off a fresh notepad and has a few pages filled already with the 2022 NRL season in mind.
Jack Bird
Where does Jack Bird fit into all of this?
He can play at lock but I agree with Oscar above, Jack de Belin looks better suited to the role.
He can play on the edge but is Anthony Griffin going to rotate through Tariq Sims and Jaydn Su’A – two recent State of Origin reps and 80-minute players?
He can play in the centres but will the Dragons get the most out of him if he’s parked out on the left edge? There is Moses Suli to contend with over there, too.
Does recent news around Bird wanting to test himself on the open market play into anything?
I’ve asked a lot of questions but don’t have many answers*. Bird appears to be in line for a starting spot on the edge in Round 1 but there is a lot of pressure on him to secure it early. He played some really good footy last year as his ball skills and underrated leg drive through tackles finally started to show consistently following years of injury and disruption.
Still only 26-years-old and just 105 games into his career, Bird has a lot of footy left in him. I just don’t know what position that will be at in 2022, or where it will be in 2023. I’m eager to see how it all plays out over the next 25 rounds.
*Michael Chammas at the Sydney Morning Herald might, though. He has since reported that Tariq Sims is set to be overlooked for the first game of the season.
Peak, Pass, Pit
Oscar and Jason give their predicted peak for the Dragons in 2022 along with a pass mark and worst-case scenario.
Peak
7th: I won’t be overly surprised if the Dragons play finals football this year. Anthony Griffin has assembled a squad of experienced senior players mixed with some raw, young talent and they’re my dark horse for 2022. I’m not sure they’ll make a huge dent in the finals series but they are certainly a chance to get there in the first place. ~OP
9th: I didn’t think the Dragons were a finals side in 2021 and looked like a fool for a moment, but they regressed following a hot start to the season. The Dragons were never as good as their early-season form or as bad as their horror finish suggested. Finishing 11th on the NRL ladder felt about right in the end if not a slight over-achievement. They probably need four more wins to play finals footy this year – a stretch. ~JO
Pass
10th: This squad is too good to be in the bottom four for mine. Ben Hunt finished last year in close to career-best form and the rest of the Dragons spine is much improved in 2022. It could take some time before the likes of Sloan and Amone are consistent performers in first grade but even during a development year like this one, St. George Illawarra should expect to finish in and around that 10th position. ~OP
10 Wins: The Dragons won eight games last season after being widely tipped to win the wooden spoon. They surprised everybody to start the season before slipping away at the end. Adding two wins to that up and down campaign is an achievable goal at this point. ~JO
Pit
<12th: If it weren’t for the BBQ-gate saga, St. George Illawarra were every chance of finishing higher than their eventual 11th place effort. The wheels well and truly fell off from that point in the season and while it’s not a good excuse, it is a legitimate one in the context of their premiership chances last season. I can’t see the Dragons doing any worse in 2022. ~OP
14th: We don’t factor injuries in here too much. Put a fork in the Dragons if Ben Hunt goes down again, though. He will make or break the Red V in 2022. But provided he’s healthy, the veteran halfback should keep his side above the bottom two on the ladder. ~JO