Similarly, to the Newcastle Knights, the St George Illawarra Dragons were left in the lurch after the departure of legendary coach Wayne Bennett and experienced some seriously lean years, having to contend with an aging and overpaid roster.
However, off the back of a major recruitment and retention overhaul led by club legend and now head coach Paul โMaryโ McGregor and Director of list management Ian Milward, the Dragons have assembled a roster stocked full of representative talent.
While the squad the Red V currently have at their disposal is impressive, this came about as a result of a large-scale revamp in Wollongong, with more than a few favourite sons of the club forced out the door.
Here are the top 10 players the Dragons have let go, not re-signed or released since 2000.
The players have been listed in accordance with the contribution they made whilst at the Dragons as well as considering the influence they have had at the clubs they left the Dragons for.
Honourable mentions: Brett Morris, Luke Bailey, Trent Merrin, Jamie Soward, Trent Barrett
3. Mark Gasnier
The name Gasnier is as synonymous with the Dragons' brand as the famous red V, and the nephew of Dragons legend Reg certainly did the Gasnier name no shame during his 175-game career at the red and whites.
Having been educated at Peakhurst High School and playing all his juniors with the famous Renown United club, youโd be hard pressed to find a more loyal and devout Dragon than Mark Gasnier.
Then a fresh-faced 18-year old Gasnier made his debut in round eight of the 2000 season against the Newcastle Knights, and would immediately cement himself as the joint venture's first choice centre, with his subtle step and palm fooling many a defender in his early years.
While the prospect of another Gasnier coming along and knocking the legendary Reg off his perch was hard to fathom, Mark did his best to do so over the next eight years. Alongside Matt Cooper, Gasnier would forge the most lethal centre pairing in the NRL, cementing himself as the Blues and Kangaroos' first choice right centre in the formative years of his career.
While his centre partner Matt Cooper forged a name as the NRLโs premier defensive centre, Gasnier was making a name for himself on the attacking end. Utilising his hulking frame and surprising turn of pace to bamboozle many an opposition defender. This attacking prowess would see Gasnier named Dally M Centre of the Year in consecutive seasons between 2005 and 2006.
After cementing himself into Dragons history as one of their greats and having been allowed to sign a contract extension in 2005 in which the following four seasons were options in Gasnierโs favour, he sought a new challenge in 2008 and signed a two-year โฌ600,000 deal with French club Stade Franรงais.
Gasnier enjoyed a prolific time in the French Top 14, becoming known by fans as โLes Gazโ and coming 3rd in the top try scorers list in his second season in Paris.
Gasnier went onto re-join his beloved Dragons at the conclusion of his contract in Paris, signing a four-and-a-half-year deal commencing in mid-2010. Following his return, the Dragons would finally claim an elusive premiership, and his good form would see him selected in the 2011 State of Origin series.
While Gasnier was an incredible servant to the Red V and will go down as one of the clubโs all-time greats, no club would want to miss out on the talents of a man labelled by Phil Gould as the โsecond-best centre three-quarter everโ for two-years during his prime.
Slow news day…
Firstly J Moz left because he could not get a start in front of Gasnier and then Gasnier left and came back half way through the premiership winning season (Obviously to get a ring) which the dragons didn’t need him. Signed for bihg bucks and screwrfd the dragons by retiring early. (He didn’t retire because of injury).
The rest such as Pattern, Ennis, Cook left very young. No one knew they were going to go onto better things
Well said – 100% agree with you.
I wish we could add Tim Lafai to the list……..
Salary cap played a big part in this as did Gasnier with J Moz and Bennett also.
Another contributor is the youth coming through the system, the Dragons can’t keep everyone (ask Penrith fans they’ll agree)
and also injuries (Young, Creagh etc)
The only thing Dragons have got wrong imo is the way they’ve used some of the youth, relied to heavily on the old heads instead of blooding. For example all those times we played De Belin in the halves when younger players would’ve jumped at the chance.
Cheers
Bennet didn’t want J Moz, didn’t think he was up to it. J Moz did not want to leave. More fool us. Can’t believe Leeson Ah Mau isn’t on the list, awesome forward and how’s he going at the worriers?
Luke Bailey deserves far than an honourable mention, Iโd have him at 2 after Fitzgibbon. Iโm also surprised Riddell isnโt on the list, he was more of a loss than someone like Kite.