CLUB CULTURE

RedV01

RedV01

SGI NSW Cup
Illusion said:
Yep got rid of Sully who I would have kept over Amone , I was always thinking this would happen , Flanno not signing Sully and then signing his son , now bingo ..... Not against young Flanno playing , might turn out ok ...... The next thing that will happen if Flanno fails is Young jr takes over ...... This club has become so predictable ......
Click to expand...
jodragon40 said:
I'd say the coaches son will be partnering Hunt next season
Click to expand...
If this turns out to be the case, I'm officially the first on the sack Flanangan bandwagon.
 
Dragons Chris

Dragons Chris

SGI NSW Cup
Possible replacements according to Fox Sports.
  • Anthony Milford - No thanks
  • Drew Hutchison - Why not? Bring him home for 2 years.
  • Jack Bird - With Hunt as halfback? The outside backs would be seriously starved for the ball unless they just ran from dummy half. So no to that.
  • Paul Turner - As for Bird.
  • Kurt Mann - Wouldn't be the worst choice but I don't like it.
  • Kaeo Weekes - Not sure but apparently he's all but gone to the Faders.
  • Kyle Flanagan - God no! He's an injury backup for first grade at very best. 25 and at his 4th club. Should tell us all we need to know.
 
Morgan

Morgan

SGI NSW Cup
  • Anthony Milford -
  • Drew Hutchison - Done a deal with the Dogs.
  • Jack Bird -
  • Paul Turner -
  • Kurt Mann - Done a deal with the Dogs.
  • Kaeo Weekes - Done a deal with the Raiders. (might still be in the 2 week cooling off period)
  • Kyle Flanagan -
 
Edward

Edward

SGI NSW Cup
Morgan said:
  • Anthony Milford -
  • Drew Hutchison - Done a deal with the Dogs.
  • Jack Bird -
  • Paul Turner -
  • Kurt Mann - Done a deal with the Dogs.
  • Kaeo Weekes - Done a deal with the Raiders. (might still be in the 2 week cooling off period)
  • Kyle Flanagan -
Click to expand...
Out of those, I'd go with Bird. With a full preseason training there it might not be the worst stopgap measure.
 
D

Dragon David

SGI NSW Cup
Hey Guys.

I have decided to bring this Club Culture Thread into the fore so that what we are saying about our players and coaches and Admin can be added to what was being said back in 2023 when several posters such as Jo (who rightly mentioned that the new coach for 2024 - Shane Flanagan will bring his son Kyle to the club to partner Hunt) and many saying no, no, no then.
I want to add that since then, has the Club done enough to strategically plan our long term goals on and off the field? Are those that are employed doing their jobs or another way of putting my question is, are they good enough to bring about success for our future based on -

Key Strategic Personnel (2026)
  • Shane Flanagan (Head Coach): As the primary architect of the roster rebuild, Flanagan has extended his contract until 2028 and holds responsibility for setting the long-term "Dragons Way" culture, focusing on fitness, toughness, and consistent performance.
  • Ben Haran (General Manager of Football): Manages the overall football department, working on recruitment, retention, and player pathways to support Flanagan.
  • Daniel Anderson (Head of Recruitment & Pathways): Poached from the Sydney Roosters and highly regarded for his talent identification, Anderson leads the strategy for building the roster, identifying key rep players to complement junior talent.
  • Dean Young & Michael Ennis (Assistant Coaches): Appointed to support Flanagan with a focus on modern attack and defensive systems, with Young providing "Red V" cultural expertise and Ennis acting as a tactical strategist.
  • Ben Creagh (Football Department Lead): A club legend tasked with providing an experienced voice in the football department, fostering an elite culture to ensure the club moves away from its recent underperformance.
  • Tim Watsford (CEO): Handles the club's commercial and structural strategy, securing funding and support for the football department to compete as a professional outfit.
  • Ben Murdoch-Masila (Cultural Strategy & Inclusion Officer): Tasked with developing and implementing the "Dragons Cultural Program" and mentoring players, particularly within Pacific Islander and Indigenous communities.
Strategic Focus
The 2026 strategy, under these individuals, revolves around transitioning from a "rebuild" phase to becoming consistent premiership contenders by adding experience (e.g., signing players like Damien Cook, Valentine Holmes, and Clint Gutherson) to mentor a promising junior talent base.
 
D

Dragon David

SGI NSW Cup
Hi Jo and Eric

Is there a way of bringing this particular Thread into the main General Discussion section as I don't think that where it is in this section is being accessed and utilised enough.

Cheers

Dragon David
 
Eric

Eric

Staff
Dragon David said:
Hi Jo and Eric

Is there a way of bringing this particular Thread into the main General Discussion section as I don't think that where it is in this section is being accessed and utilised enough.

Cheers

Dragon David
Click to expand...
If you want to get our attention or that of anyone else, please use @username. That way we will get a notification.
 
Edward

Edward

SGI NSW Cup
Dragon David said:
Hey Guys.

I have decided to bring this Club Culture Thread into the fore so that what we are saying about our players and coaches and Admin can be added to what was being said back in 2023 when several posters such as Jo (who rightly mentioned that the new coach for 2024 - Shane Flanagan will bring his son Kyle to the club to partner Hunt) and many saying no, no, no then.
I want to add that since then, has the Club done enough to strategically plan our long term goals on and off the field? Are those that are employed doing their jobs or another way of putting my question is, are they good enough to bring about success for our future based on -

Key Strategic Personnel (2026)
  • Shane Flanagan (Head Coach): As the primary architect of the roster rebuild, Flanagan has extended his contract until 2028 and holds responsibility for setting the long-term "Dragons Way" culture, focusing on fitness, toughness, and consistent performance.
  • Ben Haran (General Manager of Football): Manages the overall football department, working on recruitment, retention, and player pathways to support Flanagan.
  • Daniel Anderson (Head of Recruitment & Pathways): Poached from the Sydney Roosters and highly regarded for his talent identification, Anderson leads the strategy for building the roster, identifying key rep players to complement junior talent.
  • Dean Young & Michael Ennis (Assistant Coaches): Appointed to support Flanagan with a focus on modern attack and defensive systems, with Young providing "Red V" cultural expertise and Ennis acting as a tactical strategist.
  • Ben Creagh (Football Department Lead): A club legend tasked with providing an experienced voice in the football department, fostering an elite culture to ensure the club moves away from its recent underperformance.
  • Tim Watsford (CEO): Handles the club's commercial and structural strategy, securing funding and support for the football department to compete as a professional outfit.
  • Ben Murdoch-Masila (Cultural Strategy & Inclusion Officer): Tasked with developing and implementing the "Dragons Cultural Program" and mentoring players, particularly within Pacific Islander and Indigenous communities.
Strategic Focus
The 2026 strategy, under these individuals, revolves around transitioning from a "rebuild" phase to becoming consistent premiership contenders by adding experience (e.g., signing players like Damien Cook, Valentine Holmes, and Clint Gutherson) to mentor a promising junior talent base.
Click to expand...
In a perfect world we would keep Anderson and Watsford. Not sure what Creagh and BMM are doing. I can see their job titles but seems very vague. Did Ennis only get the job cause he is friends with Flanno? I know in the off season a lot of people were enthusiastic about him but so far, the attack is worse than the defence.
 
D

Dragon David

SGI NSW Cup
Edward said:
In a perfect world we would keep Anderson and Watsford. Not sure what Creagh and BMM are doing. I can see their job titles but seems very vague. Did Ennis only get the job cause he is friends with Flanno? I know in the off season a lot of people were enthusiastic about him but so far, the attack is worse than the defence.
Click to expand...
I agree about Anderson and Watsford but like many of us, I am still waiting for some good external signings especially in the backs and halves by Anderson and what Watsford will do with Flanno to give any accreditation to them at this stage. The assistant coaches are indeed in my opinion not the best. Young has not improved our defence issues much and Ennis, being good mates with Flanno, is not capable of improving our attack when, like you Edward, I had some optimism and was enthusiastic about his signing. I think Ryan Carr was much better but still he wasn't that great either.

In the case of Ben Haran, he has been at the Club far too long and has not brought us any success. He needs to be replaced next year maybe by Shane Richardson?

Ben Creagh is a legend of the Club and that is why he has been taken out from being a member of the Board to help lead the Football Department and foster good culture within the Football Department. Whether or not he is doing a good job, there has not been much said about him since he took on this job so give it a bit more time.

BMM is well thought of amongst the Polynesian contingent we have at the Club. He has a big job described in the above. Again, not sure if he is doing a good job or not.

Lastly, we have the man who we thought would be giving us plenty to cheer about, but all a false dawn. His signature brought about us getting his son, which many posters decried of such signing before it actually happened. SFlanagan has just not cut the mustard and relying on excuses for poor results is not what a good coach should be stating. He blames our lack of success on the poor cattle we have but a good coach should be able to convert most of the cattle into better players through strong teamwork and much better fitness levels and better tactics and strategies.

I can remember playing squash against my father-in-law who used to be a State player. He was about 36 years older than me and I was 26 or thereabouts (wow, 53 years ago) and he used his skills to thrash me at the beginning of our contests by placing his shots cunningly away from me. Being much younger, I was able to do more running so I out did him and then went on to win all of the time afterwards as I learned to do things as he was doing to me and he could not run to get to the drop shots etc I played. This example I use to show that players have to learn not to give up but to find more in themselves to keep fighting and never give an inch and this is what a good coach should be imparting on his players. Defend for each other and attack to get the upper hand and think all of the time of ways to do these things and not just go through the motions.

I hope that things will turn around for the better soon.
 
Frank Facer

Frank Facer

SGI Jersey Flegg
Dragon David said:
I agree about Anderson and Watsford but like many of us, I am still waiting for some good external signings especially in the backs and halves by Anderson and what Watsford will do with Flanno to give any accreditation to them at this stage. The assistant coaches are indeed in my opinion not the best. Young has not improved our defence issues much and Ennis, being good mates with Flanno, is not capable of improving our attack when, like you Edward, I had some optimism and was enthusiastic about his signing. I think Ryan Carr was much better but still he wasn't that great either.

In the case of Ben Haran, he has been at the Club far too long and has not brought us any success. He needs to be replaced next year maybe by Shane Richardson?

Ben Creagh is a legend of the Club and that is why he has been taken out from being a member of the Board to help lead the Football Department and foster good culture within the Football Department. Whether or not he is doing a good job, there has not been much said about him since he took on this job so give it a bit more time.

BMM is well thought of amongst the Polynesian contingent we have at the Club. He has a big job described in the above. Again, not sure if he is doing a good job or not.

Lastly, we have the man who we thought would be giving us plenty to cheer about, but all a false dawn. His signature brought about us getting his son, which many posters decried of such signing before it actually happened. SFlanagan has just not cut the mustard and relying on excuses for poor results is not what a good coach should be stating. He blames our lack of success on the poor cattle we have but a good coach should be able to convert most of the cattle into better players through strong teamwork and much better fitness levels and better tactics and strategies.

I can remember playing squash against my father-in-law who used to be a State player. He was about 36 years older than me and I was 26 or thereabouts (wow, 53 years ago) and he used his skills to thrash me at the beginning of our contests by placing his shots cunningly away from me. Being much younger, I was able to do more running so I out did him and then went on to win all of the time afterwards as I learned to do things as he was doing to me and he could not run to get to the drop shots etc I played. This example I use to show that players have to learn not to give up but to find more in themselves to keep fighting and never give an inch and this is what a good coach should be imparting on his players. Defend for each other and attack to get the upper hand and think all of the time of ways to do these things and not just go through the motions.

I hope that things will turn around for the better soon.
Click to expand...
I agree with your suggestion of bringing in Shane Richardson to our admin.
 
Frank Facer

Frank Facer

SGI Jersey Flegg
Edward said:
The admin we have now is good as long as the board lets them do their job properly.
Click to expand...
I think Richardson knows how to run a football club. Frank Ponissi from Melbourne looks to know as well. Someone along those lines could help us become successful. There is an old saying, Winning starts at the front office.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top