St George Illawarra Dragons captain Ben Hunt has called for Anthony Griffin to remain in charge of the struggling club.
Griffin's future has been in the spotlight throughout the early portion of the year, and it's a move from the Dragons' board which has hardly come as a surprise.
The coach, who formerly worked with Hunt at the Brisbane Broncos, and spent time in charge of the Penrith Panthers during his career, has struggled enormously during the first two years of his stint at the Dragons.
Despite a poor first season, the Dragons' board took up a club option on Griffin's contract in their favour before a ball had been kicked in 2022 to ensure Griffin would remain in charge for 2023.
That has blown up spectacularly, with the Dragons missing finals again last year, and now off to a slow start in 2023, although the club found a way past the Dolphins in Wollongong last week to win their second game of the year just seven days after being blown off the park in the local derby at home against the Cronulla Sharks.
Despite the conjecture over Griffin's future, with reports suggesting he has been asked to reapply for his job should he wish to continue beyond the end of 2023, Hunt told The Sydney Morning Herald that moving on Griffin would "set the club back".
“If we get four or five weeks down the road and we start again, it will set this club back a couple of years,” Hunt told The Sun-Herald.
“That's what I believe. We need to ride this out.”
It has become almost clear that Griffin will need something of a miracle to continue in his head coaching role for 2024, with names like former players Jason Ryles, Ben Hornby and Dean Young all mentioned as possible replacements.
Young served as interim coach of the club after the removal of Paul McGregor at the back end of the 2020 campaign, but then moved onto the North Queensland Cowboys.
Head coach in Townsville Todd Payten has confirmed Young would go with his blessing should he land a head coaching role, and also believes the former hooker is ready for the step up.
Despite that, he, or any other coach coming to the Dragons might be forced to do so without Hunt, who didn't rule out leaving the club if Griffin was moved on by the board.
“I honestly can't comment on it [what would happen if Griffin was sacked],” Hunt said.
“I've been at clubs when coaches do change and all of a sudden the player personnel changes, the new coach comes in and wants different things.
“I understand a lot can change when there's a coaching change.
“I'm definitely not saying I'll ride off into the sunset [with Griffin], but you never know what's going to happen.”
It's understood that Hunt, who re-signed earlier this year, wanted a clause included in the contract regarding Griffin's future - something the Dragons board flatly refused.
The star halfback, who played for Queensland and Australia at representative level last year, is contracted to the Dragons until at least the end of the 2025 season.
