This week, Mercury sports editor TIM BARROW and league writer CAMERON MEE look at the renewed pressure on Paul McGregor as Dragons coach.

Barrow: Well Cameron, after standing firmly behind Paul McGregor earlier in the season, it appears there's a change of mood at board level before Tuesday's meeting. It could mean Dean Young will take over as an interim coach as early as next week.

With a year still to run on McGregor's contract, do you think he should see out the season in charge?

Mee: It's fair to say McGregor has been a dead man walking for a period of time now. After the disappointment of last season, the Dragons needed a much-improved showing this year to provide the coach any long-term job security.

That hasn't come and it seems to now be a matter of when, not if, he will be fired. If that's the case, why not just get it over with now, rather than dragging it out.

Leaving McGregor at the helm prevents St George Illawarra from moving forward and starting to plan for the future.

Maybe Dean Young is the long-term answer, maybe he's not. If he's named the interim coach, the remainder of the season will help the board make that decision.

The Dragons are going nowhere right now, I think we all agree on that, so installing Young now would put him in a tough spot.

Is it too much to ask from a rookie interim coach?

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Barrow: In the climate, I doubt Dean Young would have enough clear air to prove he is the answer, even if he worked wonders as an interim for the rest of the season.

Dragons fans are hostile about the club's direction and many hold doubts about the ability of one of their own to succeed.

It dates back to Nathan Brown being unable to win a premiership in 2005 or 06, before an outsider in Wayne Bennett took them to the promised land.

If the board decides McGregor must go, whether it be next week or at the end of the season, then the next question to be asked is how badly they want Shane Flanagan to take over in 2022.

The Dragons' patience with McGregor has meant Jason Demetriou, Justin Holbrook, Trent Barrett and Brown - who have all been in the system during their careers - are out of the equation.

So the only way they can wipe the slate clean is to either wait for Flanagan, when his ban from the Sharks ASADA fiasco ends, or move into the market and lure the best available coach.

Paul Green is the first name which comes to mind. Would the Dragons dare look at bringing Bennett back?

Mee: I'd much rather the Dragons go with Green than Bennett. Bennett is a coach that is primarily focused on short-term success.

I'm not sure the Dragons currently have the roster that he can immediately turn into a premiership contender.

And that's before you consider the mess he left the club in following his departure in 2011 or the fact he's now 70 and looks to have lost a step or two.

In saying that, if you look at the Bennett-Demetriou combination at South Sydney, Bennett's clearly the master man manager and Demetriou is in charge of the X's and O's.

A Bennett-Flanagan pairing in a similar mould could work for a year or two before the Dragons hand the reins to Flanagan full time. Though it is not a situation I see happening.

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Green had a successful run at the Cowboys, winning the club their first premiership and taking the side to the 2017 grand final despite playing much of the season without Jonathan Thurston.

He has a proven record of nurturing talented juniors and is likely to adopt a long-term approach.

This Dragons side needs work and while Bennett is unlikely to commit to building a foundation for success, Green will.

Whether Green, Bennett, McGregor, Young or Flanagan is in charge for the remainder of this season and into next year, the first thing they have to do is settle on a long-term halves pairing.

Is it Hunt-Norman? Or Hunt-Clune? Hunt-Sailor? Clune-Sailor? Clune-Norman? Norman-Sailor? What is the answer to this conundrum McGregor has been unable to solve?

Barrow: If Sailor is committed to staying at the Dragons, then Clune and Sailor should be the halves combination now they're out of the finals picture, it offers them time to launch into next year.

But I'd still have McInnes at hooker and Hunt on the bench. McInnes is their inspiration, he's consistently their best performer, so pick him in his best position. And that's hooker. Whoever coaches the Dragons next year, the first decision they need to make is on Hunt's future, because having so much space in the salary cap taken up by a player who isn't the first-choice halfback is causing a huge flow-on effect. We've seen how much McGregor has tinkered around with selections and it's all because Hunt and Corey Norman have failed to fire as the first-choice halves combination. It's now likely going to cost McGregor his job.

And of course there have been remarkable and unforeseen circumstances around Jack de Belin being stood down, but the reality is the Dragons have won just one finals game and made the playoffs twice in McGregor's six years in charge. Whoever is coaching next year, are the Dragons at the point of needing a major roster rebuild?

Mee: That depends on whether Clune and Sailor are the halves for the future. If they are, a multi-year build is on the cards. With Lomax and Jackson Ford, Josh Kerr and even the Feagai brothers all coming through, the talent is there, it's just a few years away from being ready. Add in the departure of Tyson Frizell and the possibility of de Belin not playing another game and it probably is time for the team to focus on youth.

If Norman and Hunt remain, the Dragons need to do everything they can to put a talented lineup around them and hope a new coach is all that's needed to unlock the pair's untapped potential. Given past form, it's a situation unlikely to deliver results.