St George Illawarra build attacking arsenal

The Dragons led the competition at the midpoint of last season on the back of the best defensive record in the NRL but struggled for effectiveness in attack with only an injury-riddled Penrith outfit posting less points over the 26 rounds.

How a side featuring the likes of Josh Dugan, Gareth Widdop and Benji Marshall could struggle to find the stripe proved the biggest head-scratcher for fans but McGregor is expecting a bolstered roster to show a lot more with the ball next year.

‘‘As a team you always have to have a culture and an identity and I wanted ours to be about defence. That’s what we built our year around last year and that will continue.’’ McGregor said.

‘‘We finished fourth in the competition for defence so we want to stay on target with that and then simplify your attack around the key personnel that we’ve brought in.

“Last year our attack suffered a little bit because of the formation of our side at different stages of the year, having a running fullback more than a ball-playing fullback and having two halves that like to play on the ball.

‘‘With the roster changes you can obviously change your structure to one that suits the players that we have and we can be a lot more rounded in what we do.’’

Marshall and Widdop will no doubt shoulder most of the attacking load again next season and - after being hastily thrust together in mid-2014 -  will enter the 2016 season as the most experienced halves pairing in the competition.

Widdop is currently on International duty with England while Marshall is still recovering from a syndemosis injury suffered in the Dragons finals loss to the Bulldogs eight weeks ago.

It will limit their preseason but McGregor expects the pair to be even more in-sync in 2016.

‘‘It’s always a challenge for Gareth and Benji because they’re both really really dominant players and they like being on the ball,’’ McGregor said.

‘‘It’s just about getting that balance right and what’s the best fit for the team and obviously it’s got to suit their own playing ability as well.

‘‘Their presence and they’re ability to know what’s required for us as a team and a coaching staff is certainly a big start  for them and the rest of the team going forward.’’

While the club’s new recruits punched in at WIN Stadium for the first time two weeks ago, the full squad will gather for the first official day of preseason on Thursday.

‘‘We’ve have had 18 players back for two weeks already,” McGregor said.

‘‘I thought the guys that haven’t been here before needed to get in and make a start so that when the senior guys came back we weren’t losing too much ground before Christmas.’’

‘‘We gave the guys that performed well last year and our more senior players and extra two weeks off because I felt they’d earned that extra time with their efforts throughout the season.”