St George Illawarra Dragons chairman Craig Young has claimed that wantaway youngsters Tyrell Sloan and Jayden Sullivan are going nowhere, despite both youngsters requesting releases from the Red V โ with Sullivan doubling down on his request in the last week.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Daily Telegraph, Young also spoke about the poor attendance of the club's end-of-season presentation night and the tenure of head coach Anthony Griffin.
Young confirmed that while some players were away on World Cup duty, the bulk of the Dragons' squad simply didn't show up to the awards ceremony.
โWe had eight or nine players who had World Cup commitments, their absence was understandable,โ Young said.
โHowever the other players should have been there. When I played you couldn't wait to get there.
โIt's not like you have to pay for anything. There's no excuse.
โIt will be addressed by the CEO and the football manager.โ
The club's next board meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, is expected to discuss a number of issues, including the highly-publicised release demands of Sloan and Sullivan.
โYoung players can get impatient,โ Young said.
โOther clubs come and promise them the world.
โWe want them for the long haul and we've made the decision not to release them.
โSullivan has got a great opportunity to learn under Ben Hunt. We've signed him until 2025. He's got to roll up his sleeves and get on with it.โ
Despite recent comments from Ben Hunt that coach Anthony Griffin will be under pressure immediately should the club fail to fire early in 2023, Young said the club was sticking by the coach, including him in the decision-making process.
โAnthony is the coach, he's definitely going to be (at the meeting),โ Young said.
โIt was our decision to sign him so we've got to support him.
โThere is no timeline (on his future). We understand players will want to know who is coaching long-term, but there is no timeline on any decision.โ
