RUGBY LEAGUE
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The biggest regular season match of the year, the hottest issue for months and it was finally resolved during the first half of an Anzac Day humiliation.
Did we mention the official release floated across the Allianz Stadium press box just moments after Anthony Minichiello added further salt to the ever-widening Dragons wound?
It trumpeted a potential emotional boost for St George Illawarra before their the annual Anzac Day clash. However, it was actually in the public forum well after play started.
That way the players who have defended their likeable coach to the hilt all pre-season couldn’t be distracted from the task at hand with a mid-morning shake up.
Or get the boost they so desperately needed, as it later turned out.
The players, in fact, were the last to find out.
Even Dan Hunt didn’t have a clue about it when ambushed in a post-game interview on Sydney radio.
Talk about timing.
‘‘It only got signed off late this morning,’’ Price added of the botched announcement that keeps him with the Dragons for at least another a year. ‘‘I had no issue with it [the timing] whatsoever.’’
But what if Craig Bellamy, the man St George Illawarra boss Peter Doust courted all summer, had agreed to head to Wollongong?
Would it have been announced mid-game? Highly unlikely. And it’s also unlikely Price, whose second-year option on the new deal could see him remain at the club until the end of 2015, will have much say in the make-up of his squad for next year.
He’d been frozen out of negotiations which led to Canberra’s Joel Thompson and Melbourne’s Gareth Widdop signing multi-year, million-dollar deals.
That’s unlikely to change as the Red V massage a roster and salary cap skewered by several high-profile retirements in recent years.
‘‘Our main focus is this year, but I’ll leave that up to the executive recruitment team in terms of players we’re targeting next year,’’ Price admitted.
‘‘My main focus is our footy team and that will continue. It’s been [our] strong point and I’ll really be driving that. Our executive team will be looking after that stuff [recruitment].’’
A coach not having a major say about who he wants to scrap tooth and nail for him every week? Surely not.
But the man who has been embedded in the Dragons’ coaching set-up since 2002 maintains the will-he-or-won’t-he saga might just make him a better coach.
‘‘Nothing will change with how I’ve carried myself over the past couple of months,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s definitely made me stronger.
‘‘It hasn’t [been stressful]. It’s all about the club and no one’s bigger than our footy club. The board and Peter Doust have been very supportive of me. What you read outside is a little bit different and he was up front with me. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to take this club forward.’’
Added skipper Ben Creagh: ‘‘All the guys are really happy that Pricey has been signed for a couple of years. ‘‘He’s a great coach and he’s been under a fair bit of pressure over the past couple of months, but he hasn’t shown it, which has been the good thing about it.’’
