RUGBY LEAGUE
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The Dragons admit they have a fight on their hands to keep star players Brett Morris and Trent Merrin after their respective deals expire next year.
The future of both local juniors has come under a cloud in the Dragons post-season with Morris strongly linked to a $600,000 per-year deal with the Bulldogs that would see him reunited with twin brother Josh.
Merrin's future at the club is also unclear after attempts to upgrade his current deal for 2015 and beyond stalled mid season.
The Dragons stated a desire to keep Morris and Merrin at the club but conceded salary cap pressure could make it difficult to retain both beyond their current deals. "The club has a real desire to see Trent Merrin and Brett Morris, both of whom are respectively under contract for 2015, remain one-club players and is working through the process to try and make this happen," the club said in a statement.
"This process though has presented some issues because both players are seeking upgrades for 2015 and have high salary expectations for 2016 and beyond."
The pair's desire for upgraded deals has complicated matters for the club after it brought Gareth Widdop, Joel Thompson and Dylan Farrell to Wollongong on multi-year deals last year.
The mid-season recruitment of Benji Marshall added to the biggest recruitment drive in the joint-venture's history.
It's understood Thompson had sought a release from the remainder of his contract to return to Canberra for family reasons, a release the club was willing to grant on compassionate grounds.
But after recapturing top form under McGregor, Thompson has decided to honour the rest of his contract, something that has complicated matters for the club.
"The club can confirm that there was originally never a plan for much change to the roster in the 2015 season following the heavy recruitment drive in 2013 for the 2014 season and beyond which was amongst the largest turnover of players in the club's history," it said.
"Additionally, many of these players were locked into multi-year deals on escalating money.
"However, following Paul McGregor's appointment to the role of head coach for 2015 and beyond and the completion of the Dragons' NRL season, McGregor has made no secret of his desire to change the balance of the roster.
"This has created complexities together with a proposed reversal of plans with respect to a player who mid season was granted a release on compassionate grounds for the remaining years of his contract that enabled the club to sign Benji Marshall."
The statement said: "The only absolute time frame for the finalised squad and salary cap is round 1, 2015."
The club also announced on Friday that former Wests hooker Cherry Mescia had been appointed head of strength and conditioning for the next two seasons.
Andrew Gray (performance director), Scott Campbell (strength and conditioning) and Rob Leslie (athletic development) won't be with the club next year.
The club also confirmed new recruitment manager Peter Mulholland had begun working with the club earlier than planned, as McGregor looks to reshape the club's playing roster in time for the 2015 season.
McGregor didn't wish to comment before the completion of his full football department review.