Dragons boss responds to presentation no-show

Chief executive of the St George Illawarra Dragons Ryan Webb has weighed in on the news of just three players turning up to the club's end-of-season awards night, claiming the media scrutiny of the situation is making ‘a mountain out of a molehill.'

It was reported last week that 27 of the club's Top 30 NRL squad were either unable to attend the presentation or simply opted not to.

The team didn't make the finals, yet still decided not to hold the event until after the NRL Grand Final, by which time many players had already left on holiday.

According to the Daily Telegraph, 80 per cent of the playing group were either leaving the club, leaving for the World Cup or had left on holidays when the presentation rolled around.

Only a maximum of eight players were still in Sydney at the time and available to attend – though only three did.

“I think (the criticism) is unwarranted because people haven't taken into account the reasons why people couldn't go,” Webb told the Telegraph.

“The implication was that players weren't getting on but it had nothing to do with that. It was a timing issue.

“People are putting two things together and it doesn't make sense. It was a mountain out of a molehill.”

“You'll find most clubs hold their presentation night right after their final game, but we wanted to include NRL and NRLW so we chose to delay until the NRLW season was complete.

“We knew at the time that would affect the NRL players who couldn't attend, but we thought we'd make an effort to include not just players but also staff, sponsors and everyone who supports both (teams).

“We knew we wouldn't be able to get everyone. We just didn't think the media would try and turn it into an issue.

“It's why some other NRLW clubs separate the two, because of this.

“If we did it the other way, the girls couldn't come.”

The incident has been reported as a slight on the tenure of Anthony Griffin, a perception that was aided by Ben Hunt's comments earlier in the week that a poor start to the 2023 season would likely see the coach gone, and “everyone knows it”.

“Next year we will tweak it and look at other possibilities,” Webb said.