Deep cut for Dragons

Bennett’s focus might be on England’s Four Nations campaign, but he struck a major blow to the Dragons on Thursday, signing Jason Demetriou as an assistant.

If there’s a conversation about who could be among the next generation of great NRL coaches, Demetriou among the first names mentioned.

Everything he touches turns to gold.

After a lengthy playing career in the United Kingdom, Demetriou took Queensland Cup team Northern Pride to the inaurugral NRL State Challenge grand final victory in 2014.

Last year he was on Paul Green’s staff for North Queensland’s heart-stopping extra-time premiership success.

Then Demetriou delivers the first ever title of any description – other than the 1992 Tooheys Challenge at least – that the Illawarra can completely call its own.

And in style too.

Winning the NSW Premierships grand final over Mounties was a nail-biter, but on the biggest stage of all, the Cutters went whack, blowing Burleigh away to the tune of 54-12.

From it, Levi Dodd, Jacob Hind, Chris Lewis and Shaun Nona were rewarded with contract extensions, announced on Friday. 

Of them, Hind looks a likely type for an NRL future, while explosive centre Dodd made the NSW Premiership team of the year.

The Cutters had barely finished celebrating their magical success when the Demetriou bombshell dropped.

And for all the pleasantries for his role this year, losing him, particularly to Bennett’s Broncos is a bitter blow.

“This opportunity was not something I expected or went looking for,” Demteriou said in a statement on the Dragons website.

“As I was already working on plans for the Dragons for 2017 when the approach came and after much thought and discussion with my family, I decided that this was the best thing for us.”

One of the most puzzling things about the Dragons this year was how they could be so blunt in attack, while their shadow team was so potent. Sure, there’s a gulf in standard between the two competitions, but the Dragons scored just 14 points per game. 

Part of the Dragons plans were based around what North Queensland produced last year.

Losing prop Mose Masoe was a setback, but it became increasingly difficult to execute the Cowboys blueprint without forwards of the quality of Matt Scott and James Tamou.

Of course, Benji Marshall and Gareth Widdop’s form can’t be mentioned in the same breath as Johnathan Thurston and his ability to control the game either. But what Demetriou delivered for the Cutters could at least provide some optimism for the future, until Thursday’s announcement anyway.

With Paul McGregor under pressure after missing the finals and no major signing to replace Marshall, it adds more fuel to the blazing bonfire of St George Illawarra fan discontent.

The 2010 premiership duo Ben Hornby and Dean Young both have promising coaching careers ahead, but their positions only increase the outcry of perceived nepotism. 

Is it fair to lump pressure on boom fullback Matt Dufty as a spark to the Dragons woes, especially after the failed move to put Kurt Mann in the No.1 jumper this season? Dufty is an outstanding prospect, but needs time to establish himself in the NRL. 

Disgruntled supporters are excited at the rumours about Des Hasler replacing McGregor in 2018, but a lot would need to happen in the meantime. 

With the club’s financial woes and significant delays in the Bruce Gordon part-ownership deal, chief executive Peter Doust and the new performance committee have very limited ability for any meaningful overhaul.