Clune committed to Dragons future as McGuire switch confirmed

McGuire will join the club immediately, with coach Anthony Griffin naming the 232-game veteran in his his extended squad for Sunday's clash with the Warriors at Kogarah.

The longtime Maroons enforcer was first linked to a reunion with Griffin in the preseason, though recent whispers suggested the Cowboys were after Clune in a player swap on agreeing to release McGuire.

His ultimate switch has come without any such swap deal and Clune, who inked a two-year extension with the Dragons last season, says he was never going anywhere.

"I haven't even given it any thought," Clune said.

"A few articles have come out but I didn't even know about it. I've had people ask me about it but I obviously want to stay here in Wollongong. I'm a local boy, I've got my family and friends here and we're building something special at the club.

"It's a really close group and my number one priority is to stay here. In terms of that [swap] chat, I'm not focused on that at the moment. I'm on contract for another year after this so, as far as I'm concerned, I'm staying at the Dragons and hoping to build something special."

The interest from other clubs shows how the 26-year-old's stocks have risen since debuting last season, while suspension to Corey Norman and injury to Ben Hunt have opened the door for him to play four of his side's six games this season.

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He's part of an intriguing halves picture at the club that includes off-contract veteran Corey Norman and rising star Jayden Sullivan as well as Hunt, whose dummy-half days have been consigned to the past under Griffin.

Clune says he has no intention of filling a spot on a depth chart moving forward, but feels his future still lies in Wollongong.

"It's obviously good to have interests and options," he said.

"I want to be a starting half, I don't just want to be a back-up. I want to build a long career and help the Dragons build some success. It's positive to have some interest but I've still got a lot of improvement in me.

"I still haven't played 20 games yet so If I can keep building on that and improving each week hopefully I can keep bringing more and more to the team."

His contribution was huge in an upset win over the Eels last week, laying the match-sealing try for Matt Dufty with 10 minutes to play.

It's still a work in progress but, with Hunt facing up to another month on the sideline, Clune feels the all-important spine combination is developing well.

"It's always good to contribute and to get through there and have Duf in support... there's no one you'd rather have there," he said.

"I obviously haven't played much footy with Andrew [McCullough] but I've played enough footy now with Corey and obviously with Matt that things are starting to really build well.

"While it wasn't as fluent as we probably wanted, there's still some good signs. Like it is with everyone, you want to continue to build each week, and that spine combination is obviously very important.

"There's little things we're focused on getting better at each week. We're very honest with each other and hopefully next week we can make another improvement."

McGuire will need to unseat someone to make it into the 17 on Sunday, though Blake Lawrie is nursing a corked thigh that forced him from the field against the Eels.