To some, the veteran pick-ups appear mere scaffolding around a longer term building project. To Griffin, they're the foundations on which to build a finals platform.

While most of the chat around the Dragons has centred on the club's emerging stars, its finals fortunes this season rest on more seasoned shoulders.

Through that lens, it's not surprising Griffin wouldn't mind seeing a little selfishness from the likes of Moses Mbye, Aaron Woods and George Burgess.

"The main thing I want to see them do is, personally go after what they need first to get to their best," Griffin said.

"Because of who they are and the type of people they are, they're going to help with the younger guys anyway, but what they need to be doing is getting everything out of themselves before anything else.

"That's why we brought them here. They've all come here for a reason and they've all got a lot more football in them."

It's easy enough to forget. The Dragons may be looking for some new tricks, but not necessarily from old dogs.

Woods will turn just 31 the day after Saturday's season-opener, while none of the club's other recruits are north of 30. Mbye's only 28, Burgess is 29.

There are some career resurrections at play. Woods, Mbye, and Moses Suli, were all deemed surplus to requirements at their former clubs.

Andrew McCullough, Jack Bird and Josh McGuire came to Wollongong under the same circumstances last season.

George Burgess will find out if revolutionary hip surgery is indeed career saving. Jack de Belin is still on something of a comeback trail for entirely different reasons.

Ideally, you wouldn't have quite so many players seeking rebirth on one roster. It's perhaps the biggest reason the bookies had them favourites for the wooden spoon when markets opened.

Then again, the Dragons weren't in an ideal position when Griffin arrived.

Moving on the likes of Cam McInnes, Corey Norman, Matt Dufty and Paul Vaughan (sacked) shifted some serious financial weight.

McCullough, McGuire and Bird were brought to the club on deals heavily subsidised by their former clubs. The Tigers will pay at least half the freight on Mbye's shift to Wollongong this season.

In the shadow of a dismal finish to 2021 not all decisions have been greeted warmly. Whatever you reckon though, they didn't look too shabby on the team sheet on Tuesday.

Even in the absence of Blues incumbent Tariq Sims, the collective Origin tally in the engine room sits at 32 Origins. All but Blake Lawrie have featured in that arena.

That's with McGuire, Tyrell Fuimaono unavailable due to suspension and Burgess and Sims not yet on the selection board.

They're arguably the deepest forward stocks in the NRL. It's why, after opening in spoon reckoning, plenty are now nominating them as top-eight smokies.

Griffin doesn't call it "moneyball" like some others, but such drastic roster turnover doesn't happen by accident.

"In general, I thought we needed more experience and more forward power, hence [recruiting] guys like Su'A, Molo, Woods, Burgess," he said.

"Internally we needed to promote a lot of those younger guys, Ramsey, the Feagais, Sullivan, Sloan, Amone. They all had to be upgraded and extended.

"Externally we wanted to bring in a little bit more experience and forward power, but internally we wanted to grow our own."

Griffin has form in that area. The NRL remains stacked with stars he brought through the grades at the Broncos and Panthers.

Read more: Grand plan no longer a pipe dream for Dragons next generation

He's sitting on another batch of uncut diamonds in Wollongong. Veteran presence is vital in managing that transition.

"It's never the same all the time when you bring young people in, but the one thing you've got to do is play them," Griffin said.

"You've got to put them on the field and you've got to live with them.

"They're going to do really good things, but they're also going to take time to learn about the NRL, the speed and physicality of it, the mental demands of it.

"It is a balancing act and it's really important that I've got some strong people around them.

"We can bring those younger guys through, but the most important thing is that we have got those [seasoned] guys on our list.

"If you haven't got those types of players there, then you've got a real problem."

Griffin certainly has a mandate. The club removed any doubt over his immediate future in taking up its option on the third year of his deal, taking it until the end of 2023, prior to round one.

It's an endorsement of a long-term vision, but it won't come at the expense of immediate ambitions.

Griffin insisted through his first season that his task at the club wasn't a rebuild. Whether it was or it wasn't, it's certainly not the view in 2022.

"It's not a matter of rebuilding, it's a matter of becoming a team that can threaten for the competition and make the top eight," Griffin said.

"That's always the goal. It's why we're here."

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