The future of under siege St George Illawarra Dragons coach Paul McGregor will come under the microscope again in four weeks, according to to The Daily Telegraph.ย
It comes after the club held an emergency meeting on Tuesday following their disastrous Queen's Birthday showing against the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs where they lost 22-2.ย
However, the board agreed not to sack the under-pressure coach and instead will have another performance review meeting in four weeks time.ย
โThey came out after that meeting today and shown their support for Paul McGregor and said theyโve behind him, but... privately the board discussed giving him another review in four weeksโ time,โ Paul Kent told NRL 360.
โSo how much time this buys him I donโt know. Theyโre famous last words - full support of the board. Privately the board have said heโs got four weeks to prove he should stay in the job
โI donโt know where this leaves Paul McGregor. They are a club that is always reluctant to sack their coaches mid-term.
โI canโt imagine what the next four weeks is going to show them that they donโt know now."
Speaking to Triple M's Rush Hour, Mark Geyer believes that if the Dragons are to make a change they should do so now.ย
โIf ever Mary was going to be shown the door it was after yesterdayโs (Monday's)ย total capitulation,โ he said.ย
โThey played with no spirit, and thatโs probably one of the worst things you can say about an NRL team when they donโt play with spirit.
โIt was there with the Warriors the week before, it was there with the Dogs yesterday.
โThis is Maryโs sixth full season. Theyโve lost 14 of their last 16 games... thatโs enough to get Wayne Bennett and Craig Bellamy the chop.
โI watched them yesterday (Monday) and the more they tried the more they failed. Thereโs something wrong with the Dragons. I think itโs time he bit the bullet and put Ben Hunt at hooker.
โItโs time to change things.โ
The next four weeks shape as arguably the biggest four weeks of McGregor's tenure at the Dragons as they face Cronulla, 15th place Gold Coast, sixth place Sydney Roosters and fourth place Canberra Raiders.ย
sacking mid term will just turn out to be a poor indicator as the bludgers in the team, which is most of them. If he is flicked, the team will pull their respective fingers out and actually have a crack, only to save their own backsides, but that will only last for about two weeks.
Yeah sure, Mary’s not the greatest coach, never was ….. but there’s no bright sparks standing behind him or the Board for that matter. let the Coach, the Players, and the Fans see out the season and serve their penance … for the Board’s sins
The players should be held accountable as well as Mary. They are supposed to be professionals, but we see the same fundamental mistakes every week. Does this indicate a lack of team spirit, and if so, Why? The coach is only one man, yet there are 17 professional players who take the field each week. Are they all disillusioned with Mary to point where they don’t care if they lose each week?
I find it hard to believe that this is the case, and when you listen to an interview with someone like James Graham you can see how disappointed he was after the Bulldogs game. The Dragons have a good roster, but there other clubs whose roster is stronger, and the one thing they have lacked the past couple of seasons is a genuine match winner. Gareth Widdop was their best player, but he missed a lot of games through injury, and other big name players Ben Hunt, Corey Norman and Tariq Sims haven’t played consistent football, while Tariq’s younger bro Korbin was injured for a long period last season.
I don’t have an answer for the club’s problems, but I do know that if a team wants to be successful they need to be on the same page as the coach. Other teams have thrived through adversity, but sadly for us Red V fans nothing seems to be working right now.