RUGBY LEAGUE
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Their recruitment and retention policy has raised more than a few eyebrows but Benji Marshall is adamant the Dragons have the roster to end a three-year absence from the finals.
Brett Morris and Gerard Beale are the biggest names on a lengthy list of players to have left the club since the end of the 2014 season that also includes Kyle Stanley, Jack Stockwell and Bronson Harrison. Journeymen George Rose, Heath L'Estrange, Kris Keating, Beau Henry and former Origin centre Dane Nielsen are among the players brought in to fill the void.
Panthers NSW Cup winger Eto Nabuli, Cutters prop Rory O'Brien and former Gundagai abattoir worker Rulon Nutira have also been added to the roster though all are yet to debut in the NRL.
While he is aware some of the high profile departures and arrivals have left some Dragons fans scratching their heads, Marshall insisted confidence within the playing group is high ahead of the 2015 season.
"I see what's been written in the papers but I also hear it from the fans," Marshall said.
"They're obviously a bit frustrated with what's going on.
"Obviously B Moz [Morris] is going to be a big loss to any team, he's probably the best winger in the game, but it hasn't really affected us. I think it's affected everyone else except the players. We're confident in our side and from what I've seen we're definitely a top-eight team.
"All the negativity that's going around about who we're signing and who we're letting go, it's just focused us harder. I think we've got a great side and not making the top eight would be unacceptable."
Having been thrown a lifeline himself by the Dragons midway through the 2014 season Marshall said his first full preseason in seven years has reignited the desire that deserted him in his final years at the Tigers.
"When I was at the Tigers I was just got too comfortable in that position. I didn't know any different," he said.
"I didn't have that honesty to challenge me and to tell me I was too overweight or being to lazy. I just didn't get that the last few years at the Tigers. I was just happy playing with my mates and not trying to be the best where all my life I've always wanted to be the best.
"I lost that for a couple of years and I've found it again going away and coming back and I've still got a lot to prove still."