Recruitment and Retention for 2023

RedVHeartbeat

RedVHeartbeat

SGI NSW Cup
Eric said:

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS UP THE ANTE FOR AMONE​

St George Illawarra have tabled a revised offer to keep Talatau Amone at the club while they have taken more steps to keep impressive prop Michael Molo.

The Dragons are looking to thwart the threat of the Dolphins circling Amone, who will become a free agent from November 1. In trying to do so they have offered Amone a 12-month contract extension, which will keep him at the club until the end of 2024. He is already locked in for next season. It remains to be seen if Amone will take up the new deal. Amone produced his best performance of his young career during the Dragons last-start win against South Sydney.

Meanwhile, Molo’s shot at an NRL career continues after the late-bloomer picked up a new two-year deal with the Dragons. Molo has impressed in his four appearances after being handed a career lifeline when the Dragons gave him a train and trial contract in the pre-season. The 25-year-old – brother of Dragons teammate Francis – worked hard in the summer and forced his way into the top squad. The Bulldogs were circling but Molo will remain with the Dragons.
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TOO little- hopefully Not too late.
 
Chris M

Chris M

SGI NSW Cup

BULLDOGS ARE WATCHING ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA YOUNG GUN​

The Bulldogs are monitoring the situation with Dragons young gun halfback Jayden Sullivan. Sullivan will get a crack wearing the Red V No.7 jumper against the Broncos on Sunday and has long been regarded as the heir apparent to play halfback at St George Illawarra.

But given the outstanding form of Dragons captain Ben Hunt you can understand why the Red V outfit are now looking to extend the existing contract of the club captain beyond the end of 2023. Hunt has been the Dragons most consistent player this year and after year’s of scrutiny around his $1 million contract the move has proven a smart play from St George Illawarra.

Sullivan, a Wollongong junior who played for Wests Devils, is signed with the Red V through until the end of 2025. But the Bulldogs are keeping a close watch on how the Dragons playmaking puzzle pieces together and if there’s an opportunity to present Sullivan with a direct path towards playing halfback in the NRL then Canterbury-Bankstown may explore trying to make it happen.
Since around round 6 or 7, I like the way Hunt has been playing. He's stopped trying to do everything himself and the Amone and the team is better for it. But Sullivan is the future. There should be no extension for Hunt!
 
Morgan

Morgan

SGI NSW Cup
Chris M said:

BULLDOGS WATCHING ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA YOUNG GUN​

The Bulldogs are monitoring the situation with Dragons young gun halfback Jayden Sullivan. Sullivan will get a crack wearing the Red V No.7 jumper against the Broncos on Sunday and has long been regarded as the heir apparent to play halfback at St George Illawarra.

But given the outstanding form of Dragons captain Ben Hunt you can understand why the Red V outfit are now looking to extend the existing contract of the club captain beyond the end of 2023. Hunt has been the Dragons most consistent player this year and after year’s of scrutiny around his $1 million contract the move has proven a smart play from St George Illawarra.

Sullivan, a Wollongong junior who played for Wests Devils, is signed with the Red V through until the end of 2025. But the Bulldogs are keeping a close watch on how the Dragons playmaking puzzle pieces together and if there’s an opportunity to present Sullivan with a direct path towards playing halfback in the NRL then Canterbury-Bankstown may explore trying to make it happen.
Since around round 6 or 7, I like the way Hunt has been playing. He's stopped trying to do everything himself and the Amone and the team is better for it. But Sullivan is the future. There should be no extension for Hunt!
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Well he is under contract for a few more years so he'll only be let go if the club decides he isn't the future after all. Apparently he's been killing it in the NSW Cup.

The worry is Hook wanting to keep at least one player from his storied Broncos U20s team of 15 years ago.
 
Chris M

Chris M

SGI NSW Cup
Morgan said:
Well he is under contract for a few more years so he'll only be let go if the club decides he isn't the future after all. Apparently he's been killing it in the NSW Cup.

The worry is Hook wanting to keep at least one player from his storied Broncos U20s team of 15 years ago.
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We all know what contracts are worth these days. The best thing the Dragons would appear to have vs the Grubs is the salary cap position of both clubs. Griffin has been vocal about retaining the juniors on the books now as opposed to the very high priced Grubs recruits.
 
Chris M

Chris M

SGI NSW Cup
BIG NEWS!!!
St George Illawarra Dragons announce the re-signing of....... wait for it......... Michael Molo
 
Morgan

Morgan

SGI NSW Cup
I know this is for 2024, not 2023 but anyway. I think we all had high hopes in the Sullivan/Amone combination but in their one audition, they botched it badly. But if they want Hunt, let's say for another 2 years so he'll be 35 when his contract ends, I'd say not for more than 750K a year.

HUNT CHASING NEW DEAL​

GIVEN all the noise coming out of the Dragons dressing room at the moment around coach Anthony Griffin it’s surprising the club is yet to table a formal offer to try and retain Red V captain Ben Hunt.

Hunt, 32, is in career-best form of the back of a man of the match performance in State of Origin III and like numerous champion playmakers over the years is getting better with age. Despite Hunt clearly stamping himself as one of the form players of the NRL, the Dragons are yet to kick into gear in terms of tabling him a new deal.

Hunt is currently signed until the end of 2023 and in fairness to Griffin probably his greatest achievement as coach at the Dragons to date has been unlocking the resurgence of the Red V halfback. Elsewhere it’s a huge final seven rounds for St George Illawarra as noise begins to build around whether Griffin will survive beyond this season.

Cowboys assistant coach Dean Young has a get-out clause in the final year of his three-year contract with North Queensland meaning if the Dragons opted to bring one of the club’s favourite sons home they could make it fly. Nothing is going to happen in the short term but if results continue to fall off the cliff the way the Dragons did against the Roosters then there’s going to be some big decisions for St George Illawarra.
 
GCRV

GCRV

SGI NSW Cup
It's official Josh McGuire is gone at the end of the season. Does that mean Hook is gone as well. My guess is that he would have fought to sign McGuire for 2 more years on around 700K a season.
 
Eric

Eric

Staff

St George Illawarra ramp up bid to lock in new deals for Ben Hunt and Talatau Amone​

The Dragons have ramped up negotiations with skipper Ben Hunt and one of the club’s brightest young stars.​

St George Illawarra has started negotiations with the game’s in-form player Ben Hunt to keep him at the club until his mid-30s. The Dragons met with Hunt’s management on Thursday and are in the process of finalising a two-year extension to have their skipper retire at the club. Hunt still has 12 months to go on his deal but the Dragons do not want him to hit the open market come November 1.

St George Illawarra boss Ryan Webb confirmed the club had kickstarted talks. “We have started the process to extend Ben, and we’re very hopeful we can keep him at the club long-term,” Webb said. “He is an important person on the field and has a tremendous impact off it.”

The Dragons are also closing in on locking down Hunt’s halves partner, Talatau Amone, to a new deal. Amone, who was courted by the Dolphins, is now expected to commit to the Dragons before his own deal ends at the end of next year. If the Dragons lock in Amone and Hunt as expected, it could have an impact on Jayden Sullivan’s future at the club.

Sullivan re-signed this year on a deal until the end of 2025 with the hope he would combine with Amone as St George Illawarra’s long-term halves pairing. The Dragons are yet to decide if they will pursue a hooker for next season, having held talks with the Roosters’ Sam Verrills and Tigers duo Jake Simpkin and Jacob Liddle.
Not sure how I feel about this. Sullivan muffed his one chance but it was just one chance.
 
jodragon40

jodragon40

Staff
So there you have it Hunt playmaker half back preferred partner Amone. Reading between the line the centres are also settled Lomax and Suli. So in the backline Rav settled on a wing Feagai has the running for the 2nd wing spot and Griffin wants Ramsay as fullback. That will be our backline moving forward to 23 season. So money left over should be targeting our engine room. My information is that the club is divided on the sacking of the 2 coaches especially Head who has worked his way up the coaching ranks since finishing his playing career but Gentle has an impressive resume as well. If correct this is extremely worrying because when a playing group is unsettled in my experience that leads to sub standard on field performances. Time will tell.
 
RedV01

RedV01

SGI NSW Cup
jodragon40 said:
So there you have it Hunt playmaker half back preferred partner Amone. Reading between the line the centres are also settled Lomax and Suli. So in the backline Rav settled on a wing Feagai has the running for the 2nd wing spot and Griffin wants Ramsay as fullback. That will be our backline moving forward to 23 season. So money left over should be targeting our engine room. My information is that the club is divided on the sacking of the 2 coaches especially Head who has worked his way up the coaching ranks since finishing his playing career but Gentle has an impressive resume as well. If correct this is extremely worrying because when a playing group is unsettled in my experience that leads to sub standard on field performances. Time will tell.
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I'm a big fan of Rav but I feel he just isn't quick enough for the wing from next season. I'd like to see him get a chance in the forwards. He's certainly big enough.
 
RedV01

RedV01

SGI NSW Cup
My information is that the club is divided on the sacking of the 2 coaches especially Head who has worked his way up the coaching ranks since finishing his playing career but Gentle has an impressive resume as well. If correct this is extremely worrying because when a playing group is unsettled in my experience that leads to sub standard on field performances. Time will tell.
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I see it as Griffins last throw of the dice.
 
Morgan

Morgan

SGI NSW Cup
jodragon40 said:
So there you have it Hunt playmaker half back preferred partner Amone. Reading between the line the centres are also settled Lomax and Suli. So in the backline Rav settled on a wing Feagai has the running for the 2nd wing spot and Griffin wants Ramsay as fullback. That will be our backline moving forward to 23 season. So money left over should be targeting our engine room. My information is that the club is divided on the sacking of the 2 coaches especially Head who has worked his way up the coaching ranks since finishing his playing career but Gentle has an impressive resume as well. If correct this is extremely worrying because when a playing group is unsettled in my experience that leads to sub standard on field performances. Time will tell.
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I'm sure Peter Gentle is a really friendly and hard working guy. And he's certainly got a wealth of experience. As defence coach, he has failed spectacularly! If he didn't know the axe was coming for him, he was deluding himself.

Head may have reason to feel a little hard done by.
 
jodragon40

jodragon40

Staff
M
Morgan said:
I'm sure Peter Gentle is a really friendly and hard working guy. And he's certainly got a wealth of experience. As defence coach, he has failed spectacularly! If he didn't know the axe was coming for him, he was deluding himself.

Head may have reason to feel a little hard done by.
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My mistake in regards to Gentle I should proofread my comments. What I meant to say about Gentle was that he did NOT have an impressive resume. In fact if you dig into his short playing and coaching stats they are extremely unimpressive. In fact how does he ever get the job in the first place. I could have thrown my hat into the ring if I was aware the club was taking anyone.
 
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