St George Illawarra coach Anthony Griffin calls for consistency amid NRL crackdown

The Dragons were among the teams most affected by last week's blitz, Tyrell Fuimaono sent off and Josh McGuire sin binned during the loss to the Storm.

Five separate charges from the match review committee contributed to a chaotic week, officials scrambling to ensure a 21-man squad would be named on Tuesday.

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Ultimately Fuimaono and McGuire were handed five-week bans, Mikaele Ravalawa two weeks and Tariq Sims one.

The NRL has made no apologies for the spate of sin bins and send offs during Magic Round, chairman Peter V'landys repeatedly expressing a fear concussions could contribute to the death of rugby league.

While falling short of expressing his views on the merits of the crackdown, the coach said one week will not be enough to reduce the prevalence of high tackles.

"Speaking as someone in the game, it needs to stay consistent otherwise last weekend was tragic round," Griffin said. "As long as they're the same rules every week now and for State of Origin and finals, then we're all on the same page.

"The challenge for us as a game is going to be what happens from here on now. We need to be consistent with it, otherwise it's not going to mean much."

The week of drama left the Dragons with little time to prepare for Friday night's clash with Cronulla at Kogarah.

Both teams are desperate to return to form, the Sharks looking to win their first match since coach John Morris was sacked.

St George Illawarra are undermanned, suspensions and injuries seeing the club rush Gerard Beale into the squad.

While Griffin said it's unlikely the former Cronulla premiership winner will line up on Friday, the coach is confident those who step into the team will perform.

"We've got some people in positions that we want to see them in, our performance needs to be right up to the mark tomorrow night.

"We can't be victims to this situation. The good part about situations like this is they give you an opportunity to grow as players, coaches and collectively as a team and as a club. We'll use this opportunity for our club to grow.

"We can build some depth in the players that need to come in, we can build an attitude. We've got a really good environment in this club at the moment, we can learn from the lesson we got last weekend and move on."

Friday will see emerging forward Jaiyden Hunt make his debut, the 21-year-old picked on the bench.

While he spent the preseason training with the side, the prop is on a training contract and has played in NSW Cup this year.

A Queensland junior who was previously in the Melbourne Storm system, Griffin is excited to see what Hunt can produce.

"Jaiyden Hunt is going to get his first opportunity off the bench. He's a young frontrower we brought down from Queensland.

"He's a good young frontrower with a great attitude. He did the whole off-season with us, he's been here since November and has been playing really well in the NSW Cup. It's a good opportunity to bring him into the side."