It's been a tough first season in charge for Griffin and it would be a case of all pain no gain if the youngsters blooded in an otherwise forgettable campaign are subsequently lured away.

Jayden Sullivan has been impressive in a makeshift hooking role in recent weeks, but is a long-term No. 7 who will likely be vying with good mate Talatau Amone to partner skipper Ben Hunt in the halves next season.

Pairing the longtime junior teammates at NRL level is the obvious end game but, with Hunt having two years to run on his $6 million deal, patience could be tested.

While Amone and rookie fullback Tyrell Sloan are contracted for another two seasons, Sullivan is free to negotiate with rival clubs for 2023 from November 1. Mat and Max Feagai are in the same boat.

The club's looked to clear the way in moving on the likes of Matt Dufty and Corey Norman this year, but Griffin is well aware of the retention challenge a glut of young talent presents.

"That's just the market, when they come on and play well straight away they get a lot of attention," Griffin said.

"It's the same with the kids out at Penrith and they've managed to keep them and keep them happy. I think we'll do the same with our group that are coming through at the moment.

"I'd be concerned if there weren't clubs circling [Sullivan]. He's a great player and, as he's shown the last couple of weeks, he can play in a few positions. He's handled the hooking role brilliantly.

"He understands it's a really good opportunity for him, no matter where he's playing, to grow into an NRL player. If he wasn't worth anything on the open market we would be concerned.

"We had a good chat to him [on Thursday] and he wants to stay at the club, he loves the club. We'll enter some talks with our management and his management in the next few weeks I'd imagine."

Having also let former skipper Cam McInnes depart, the club has made some moves in the market place to bolster its forward ranks with the addition of Francis Molo, Jaydn Su'A and George Burgess.

Tigers utility back Moses Mbye will also shift to Wollongong on a deal heavily subsidised by his former club, while Moses Suli remains in the Dragons sights.

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It provides an optimistic view of the future, but it's impossible to look kindly on the present as the Dragons look to avoid finishing the year with a club-record eight straight defeats against South Sydney.

Going without finals action yet again corresponds with most preseason predictions, but Griffin insists he never approached his first season in Wollongong as a dreaded 'rebuilding year'.

"It was never about needing a rebuild," Griffin said.

"That was never the intention. The main thing at any club is that everyone gets an opportunity to play to their [best] level and get them to a point where you can make a decision about the future of your roster.

"I thought we did that early in the year. We had a really good preseason, everyone got the opportunity to play and improve and that gave us a really good look at our list.

"They're not excuses, but different things popped up through the year that we had to deal with and I thought we were really resilient all year, even though we're disappointed with where we finished.

"Along the way we made some decisions about the future of our roster and we're starting to get a team together that we can be confident with.

"Our external recruitment has been really strategic and planned to a point we know that it's going to improve our football team."

Finishing up this week will see Griffin miss the finals for just the second time in eight seasons as a head coach after a tumultuous year plagued by suspensions for on and off-field behaviour.

It's been testing, but Griffin isn't reaching for excuses.

"I'm bitterly disappointed that we're finishing this weekend," he said.

"[Finals is] always the goal every year, they're not rebuilding years even though you change your roster. We were always in that position, either in the eight or [still a] possibility of playing finals football until the last couple of weeks.

"Obviously we had a really strong start, Magic Round knocked us around and we lost our way at the back end through the suspensions from the COVID [barbecue breach].

"Up until a couple of weeks ago we were still a really good chance of making the eight and I've been really happy with the attitude and the steps we put in place.

"It's disappointing to be finishing now but we've unearthed some really good young talent and we need to build on that next year. Our club's got to be playing finals football and that's the outlook for next year again."

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