There's savage irony in the fact that, had the Dragons had re-signed Corey Norman last year, they probably would have beaten the Titans on Saturday.
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It's still a good thing they didn't.
The reports were that coach Anthony Griffin wanted to, but the Red V faithful would have stormed the joint with stakes and pitch forks in hand. Quite rightly too. It would've been an absurd move.
However, on percentages, the Dragons were more likely to have got over the line against the Titans if Norman was still there.
In three seasons with the Dragons - Norman kicked four field goals, two of them in golden point.
His first came against Brisbane in round three, 2019, from 45 metres out with just nine seconds left. He booted the Dragons home from similar range a week later in a golden-point win over Newcastle.
He kicked another in a 25-18 win over the Cowboys in round two last year and his last in a golden-point win over the Warriors in round 16 (a win that prompted an infamous barbecue celebration).
In comparison, Ben Hunt has kicked one field goal in his entire career - that's 297 games at club, Origin and Test level.
It came on the stroke of halftime for a 9-8 lead in a game the Dragons would ultimately lose 22-9 against the Sharks in round 11, 2019.
Saturday's loss to the Titans was fodder for those who still subscribe to the view that Hunt struggles to close games (they presumably averted their eyes when he nailed a clutch 40-20 against the Roosters on Anzac Day).
In broader terms there's no comparing the two. Hunt is the superior player by the length of 10 Flemington straights.
Norman played State of Origin as recently as 2019, but his weekly performances didn't go near matching his hefty pay packet in the seasons that followed.
Yet all the available evidence suggests the ball would have gone to Norman at the death had he been there last week.
It's worth considering amid some of the fan pile-on we've seen directed at young guns Talatau Amone and Tyrell Sloan following the loss; some of it prompted the latter to shut down his social media accounts.
It must be said it's a small section of a much broader fanbase that has, for the most part, embraced the young crop and been vocal in its desire to see them given regular NRL action.
Watching Norman get selected week after week, loss after loss, down the stretch of another forgettable year in 2021 raised its considerable ire.
Fans who endured that frustration quite reasonably raised en eyebrow when Sloan was so easily dispensed with this week following a golden point loss to the Titans.
Sloan's now been made the fall guy twice before the season's even reached its midpoint. It's unfair, plain and simple. Life isn't fair, rugby league even less so, but it has to put a dent in a young guy's confidence.
It's a realisation of the fears many held about how the young stars - teenagers at season kickoff - would navigate a full season in the spotlight, and in the crosshairs of a famously forthright fanbase.
How Griffin, a noted development coach, would handle the youth and their progression was the most pressing question surrounding the Dragons in the preseason.
This column put that to Griffin in March and got the following response:
"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," he said.
"You've got to put them on the field and you've got to live with them."
One might be tempted to go hard on those comments given what's followed, but the old Wayne Bennett creed springs to mind - "if you start listening to the fans, it won't be long until you're sitting with them."
That goes doubly for listening to the media, especially columns like this. Griffin's job is to win football games. He lives and dies by it in a way we journos do not live and die by the opinions we share.
He's also privy to information we are not. More than isolated mistakes, Griffin initially demoted Sloan and Amone so they could work on broader issues in their game. They may still be there.
Sloan was only recalled last week due to an injury to Andrew McCullough that forced Moses Mbye's shift to hooker.
In the week leading in, Mbye was talking to this paper about making the No. 1 his own for the rest of the season.
When McCullough returns, and reports are it won't be long, Mbye could well move straight back there.
It could be a narrow window in which Griffin feels Cody Ramsey deserves an opportunity as much anyone.
Griffin plays his cards close to his chest on such things, but the decisions and opinions of the coach are typically the most informed.
Credit for making the up-front call too. A lot of coaches would have named an unchanged team on Tuesday and just made always-intended changes before kickoff. This way is owning it.
That said, some facts are inescapable.
For all the talk of collective responsibility, Sloan is the only member of the 17 that tasted that defeat against the Titans not given a chance to atone for it this weekend (provided the Dragons do run out as named on Tuesday).
Likewise, demoting Amone to the bench and dropping Sloan were the only non-forced changes made following the Dragons loss to Cronulla in round three.
There was talk of "lessons" that had to be learned after both losses, and other along the way.
It may well be part of the the plan, but it's clear some are getting put through a tougher school than others. Whether that's right or wrong, you be the judge.
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