While the club finished the year with three straight victories on the field, the off-season that followed saw a well-publicised no-show of top squad players at the club presentation evening, young guns Tyrell Sloan and Jayden Sullivan request releases from their contracts and Talatau Amone stood down under the NRL's no-fault stand-down policy.

It's seen the culture of the joint-venture placed under the microscope but, in a wide-ranging chat ahead of the Dragons preseason campaign, Griffin said there are no issues to be worked through internally.

"We've got a fantastic club and good people here," Griffin said.

"People are always going to question you, particularly this club, it's got a high profile, but I don't see anything we need to address [culturally] at all. There are things that happen in any club that you fix on the run but we're really optimistic for this year.

"We finished really well last year despite a lot of injuries. Any other year you make the playoffs with 12 wins and we're not that far away from, ultimately, where we want to be and that's being a major force in the competition.

"There's a really good feel about the group and I think the whole club's really well-aligned, from the board down, and we're looking forward to the start of the season.

"We've built really well in the off-season, the group's in a really good place, and we're looking forward to the trials now."

The club was rocked at the conclusion of last season when Sullivan and Sloan both requested releases from their long-term deals after being drip-fed NRL action through a trying campaign.

Both requests were ultimately withdrawn, with Sullivan now in the box seat to partner Ben Hunt in the halves amid Amone's legal dramas. It follows an off-season heart-to-heart with Griffin, though the coach said there weren't any fences that required mending.

"Not from my end, I didn't think we were ever not on the same page," Griffin said.

"I think having a chat with him over the off-season, just about his football and life in general helped him clear his head, but I don't think there was ever an issue from my end."

Griffin also revealed Sloan has turned heads with his effort through the off-season, giving him the inside running for the No. 1 jumper following confirmation Cody Ramsey will miss the entire season through illness.

"At this stage, we're happy from the fullback point-of-view to give Sloany every chance and he'll get every chance," Griffin said.

"He's had a really good off-season and he's doing really well. Treigh Stewart's done a good job for us as well, and we've still got capacity to go to the market, but I think Sloany's doing a really good job for us at the moment."

In what was perhaps the most unexpected headache for Griffin, Talatau Amone is facing an indefinite stint on the sidelines as he faces charges of damaging property, intimidation and reckless grievous bodily harm in company.

In previous cases in which the no-fault stand-down has been implemented - including that of Jack de Belin at the Dragons - it's seen players out of action for multiple seasons.

Read more: Amone not going anywhere despite long-term stand-down

Amone will continue training with the top squad, but Griffin is preparing for game-day life without the 20-year-old emerging star.

"It's something we didn't want to happen for the club, and obviously for him personally, but we've got no control over the legal system," Griffin said.

"We'll move on and support Junior (Amone) all the way. It's one of those things that are normally long-term. Hopefully, for his sake, it gets sorted out quicker but, from our point-of-view, we're taking a long-term view of it."

While the club took up its option on the final year of Griffin's deal ahead of last season, he won't head into 2023 with the same level of security in the final year of his deal.

With a friendly draw to start the year, a slow start could see him struggle to see out the season, but Griffin feels it's simply par for the course in the NRL pressure-cooker.

"You're always off-contract [as a coach]," he said.

"That doesn't play into my thinking at all. I'm enjoying what I'm doing at the moment and looking forward to the start of the year.

"We've got our [own] expectations. Even though it was a bit messy, we built 12 wins last year and probably cost ourselves a few so our squad's a strong squad and there's a building feel here as well.

"We're pretty stable, we haven't made too many changes. The younger guys are a year older, guys like Sloan and Mat Feagai, and I think we've got a really good balance in our squad at the moment.

"I think our forward pack's getting stronger with guys like [Jack] Bird, Jaydn Su'A, bringing in [Ben] Murdoch-Masila, bringing in Zane Musgrove along with [Blake] Lawrie and [Jack] de Belin.

"I think we're building nicely and we've still got a couple of [roster] spots and capacity to add to that."

The club attracted criticism for allowing Cam McInnes to depart not long after Griffin's arrival in Wollongong accompanied by former Bronco Andrew McCullough on a three-year deal.

The veteran notched 300 games with the club but ultimately retired with a year to run on his deal. Initially a 'depth signing' former Tiger Jacob Liddle is in the frame for the No. 9 along with veteran utility Moses Mbye.

"Jacob's come to us and he's going very well," Griffin said.

"Moses Mbye can play there as well so, out of those two guys, we'll sort that out over the next month."

On individual form, it's hard to believe there was even debate around whether the club should re-sign skipper Ben Hunt.

However, with the club having reached the finals just once five years into his six-year $6.5 million deal, there were some who questioned whether - at 32 - Hunt's deal until the end of 2025 is merely prolonging the salary cap pain.

Read more: Ramsey to miss entire 2023 season through illness

For his part, Griffin has no doubt it was the right move.

"Absolutely [I do], otherwise we wouldn't have signed him," Griffin said.

"He's obviously just signed a new deal to finish his career here and he's developing into a really good leader for the club as well, on and off the field. His guidance will help everyone play a little bit better again this year, I've got no doubt.

"He's getting better every year and the really good players, they finish their careers playing their best football at the back end and that's because they work really hard. They've got a lot of talent, but they have fantastic attitudes.

"He's never been in a better place knowledge-wise and his understanding of the game. He works really hard, he's in great shape and he'll see out his contract no doubt and I'm sure he'll see it out with a great deal of success over the next few years.

"We've got a marquee player like that to build around now and that's why it was so important to keep him."

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