Before we get to the first-round hatchet job on Penrith, let's talk about the death threats to coach Paul McGregor and chief executive Peter Doust.
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They've always been passionate supporters, those Dragons types. But last season, as the side limped into 11th position at the end of the NRL season, the line was well and truly crossed.
Via the courageous forums of social media and anonymous email, the correspondence could not have been more rancid. Threats to send someone to jail, promises to throw someone off a cliff … this went well beyond the ever-present "Oust Doust" sign on the hill at Wollongong and Kogarah.
The world is full of narks. Fans are entitled to their opinions. Without them, the game doesn't exist. But the vitriol and hate thrown at the coach and his boss last season rocked long-time Dragons staffers who have been through many highs and lows.
Cut to the home dressing room at Jubilee Oval last Saturday night, after the 42-10 win over the Panthers, and Jack De Belin takes centre stage.
De Belin has been given the job of leading the team song now that Ben Creagh has retired.
The prop turned up to pre-season training in November without his trademark top knot. Against the Panthers, he trampled five defenders on the way to the try line. Coincidence? I don't think so.
The rousing rendition of When The Saints Go Marching In that followed explained the relief that came with that opening round win.
For the past six months, most experts have had the Dragons in a race to the bottom this season with the Knights. McGregor has been widely earmarked as the first coach sacked.
Of course, a victory in the first week of March doesn't mean you'll be there in the first week of September. A quality Parramatta side at WIN Stadium in Wollongong on Sunday night is another significant early season test.
But the result against Penrith was an indication of the evolution under way at the Dragons.
"We know we needed to change," McGregor said. "We're one game into it and I've been around footy long enough to know we have to back it up this week, next week, the rest of the season. But the start is nice because everyone has us to finish in the bottom two. It's shocked everyone else – but not us."
Let's have a look at where they're at.
Power attack
It was through necessity and misfortune that the Dragons have changed their attack from being as exciting as Chinese water torture to something worth watching.
McGregor admits he tried to micro-manage so many parts of the football department last season that he spread himself thin. A brilliant attacking player during his career, he has taken more control of how the Dragons score points.
"We are going to attack with simplicity through a big power game," the coach said. "To play what's in front of them. That was what the basis of our pre-season was. They are free to play whatever they see."
It's a fundamental change. Five-eighth Gareth Widdop was heavily criticised last year, but in reality he's played alongside 10 different halfbacks since arriving from the Storm.
At Melbourne, he played alongside Australian halfback Cooper Cronk, on the left edge, with a very specific role. Meanwhile, the Dragons have a very capable fullback in Josh Dugan, but a fullback who is not a natural ballplayer.
"Then in the pre-season, we lost our halfback," McGregor said of Drew Hutchinson blowing the ACL in his knee in December. "We no longer had Benji Marshall. Josh McCrone had played 10 games in two years … we looked at what we've got and what we do have is a pack of big, angry men. We need them to be as fit as they can be so they can play more minutes."
Dragons players report it was the hardest pre-season they've ever endured.
And McGregor is right: the pack is monstrous. De Belin has always had talent, but Russell Packer has needed time in his comeback from two years out of the game. Canberra recruit Paul Vaughan is 110 kilograms and 190 centimetres, he has leg speed and runs at the line like a wrecking ball.
In Tyson Frizell and Joel Thompson, they have two edge back-rowers who can play 80 minutes.
Hooker Mitch Rein needed a change of clubs as much as the Dragons needed a change in hookers, and in Cameron McInnes they also have an 80-minute player.
Then they have an additional forward coming off the wing. Nene McDonald is a big winger who loves coming in and playing like an extra forward.
Says McGregor: "We don't have a genuine superstar halfback. We don't have a ball-playing fullback. But we can play aggressively and powerfully. The simplicity of how we're going to play is a relief to everyone."
Keeping Dugan and Widdop
One of the fundamental changes at the Dragons has been the shuffling of Ian Millward into the role of director of rugby league pathways.
After the Dragons won the competition in 2010, their focus was about winning the next game to protect a brand obsessed with success. Millward's brief is to turn them from a reactionary club into a developing club, and for that reason the Dragons in 2016 re-signed a record number of under 16s, 18s and 20s players.
But it's the re-signing of Dugan and Widdop that most Dragons fans want to know about and on that score it's difficult to gauge.
Millward won't discuss specifics but the common belief is that Dugan's management wants him on fullback money in excess of $1 million a season when the Dragons see him as a crack centre on a crack centre's wage of about $700,000.
"We think long-term he is a centre," Millward said. "It's very hard to have a 105-kilogram fullback. They have to run more metres, and track more than anyone on the field. We believe where he plays for NSW and Australia reflects that he's an outstanding centre. We would like to play him there and we're prepared to make him one of the highest-paid centres in the game.
"We look at [under 20s star] Jai Field as a Darren Lockyer-like player of the future. His transition to first grade could be at fullback for a few years.
"Then we also look at Gareth. He played fullback when the Storm won the under 20s comp. He only went into the first-grade side as a No.6 because they had Billy Slater. Internally, we feel like we've got some answers with the three of them. Externally, as we're all aware, there's always an option for both to go elsewhere."
Why Ben Hunt became the hunted
Rival clubs and even player managers complain that the Dragons skewed the market by signing Ben Hunt to a $6 million deal over six seasons. There has been speculation senior Dragons players suddenly wanted to know why they weren't getting that type of money, but Millward says he's heard no such rumblings.
He also reveals the club didn't get into a bidding war to sign Hunt. Like Dugan and Widdop and every other player from now on, he puts a value on their head and sticks to it.
"We were involved with Ben with two other clubs," Millward said. "Then the Broncos offered a four-year contract – which they don't usually do – at the last minute. We weren't in a bidding duel. We put a value on him early. I can be upfront with you and say the money we offered him, we didn't change that value because that was the value we put on him. The only thing we've changed is that we went from five years to six. We know he is the long-term halfback at our club."
Money well spent? We'll see soon enough.
The Dragons have employed Victoria-based leadership expert Mick Martin, who has worked with the Australian cricket team, AFL clubs, the Melbourne Storm and Queensland. He did some human profiling on Hunt and endorsed his signing. So did Maroons coach Kevin Walters.
While many question if Hunt is worth the millions the Dragons have thrown at him, the club is comfortable with his ability and the role he will play when he arrives as a genuine, dominant half. They also point to his age of 26.
"He's already played 160 games," Millward said, "and he's got many years left in him."
The coach’s future
Doust has a one-word answer and then a long silence when you ask if him if he's got out-of-work-coach Ivan Cleary just waiting to be parachuted in should McGregor be sacked.
"No," he said.
He says the same of Bulldogs coach Des Hasler, who is off contract this season.
"No ... we clearly think Paul is a coach of the future otherwise we wouldn't have gone this far with him. We haven't got any timelines to relate to anybody. We are just going to monitor the performance as we go. We went through a very open and frank and independent review in 2016 and we didn't hold the coach personally responsible for the performance in 2016 – but we were expecting improvement in 2017.
As for the man himself, McGregor is comfortable with the pressure being heaped on him.
"Mate, I'm OK about it," he said. "I'm very comfortable with pressure. I was as a player. I played bush footy until I was 22 and then State of Origin within 16 weeks. The pressure becomes a privilege. It means you're in a position that's hard to get to. If I can shoulder that pressure and not let it influence the team, I'm happy."
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