New recruit Raymond Faitala-Mariner feeling the love at the Dragons

The Kiwi International only arrived at the club in February after being released by Canterbury just one-year into a three-year contract extension he signed at Belmore midway through 2022.

His departure after nine years with the club came amid reports of a rift with coach Cameron Ciraldo, and Dogs supremo Phil Gould.

Faitala-Mariner has repeatedly denied those assertions but, having featured in all four Dragons game this season, said the switch has seen him recapture his love for the game under Shane Flanagan.

"It's just a breath of fresh air," Faitala-Mariner told the Mercury.

"I'd been at the previous club for eight or nine years. It's a long time and that's all you know.

"To see something new and to be around a different environment and different personalities, under an experienced coach too, it's definitely refreshing my mind and my heart.

"Just being in the position the club is in, everything is new. Going through what you could say is a rebuilding of the club under a new coach, I knew I'd love to be a part of it.

"I can use my experience to help nurture these young boys coming through and showing them what it means to be a first-grader, how to train as a first grader, and what professionalism looks like.

"It's an opportunity to utilise my experience where it can be used. I've found a new love for the game again and hopefully I can repay the favour to the Dragons for showing their faith in me."

It's a leadership role the Samoan International takes seriously, particularly with host of young stars with Pasifika heritage coming through the club's ranks expected to make their presence felt in the NRL over the next few seasons.

"There are more Tongans than Samoans here so, after the next couple of weeks, I'll consider myself as a half-Tongan in this team," he joked.

"But there is a good connection there. I came to the club thinking that there weren't many Islander boys, but there are a lot of young Islander boys coming through and, for me, I have a heart for my people.

"I'm still trying to see where I can be used to help these young fellas come through, especially the young Polynesian boys because I know what they're going through.

"The mindset, the support and the family, it can be a bit much at times, so hopefully I can be there to guide them and to give them a bit of wisdom here and there."

The arrival of the 119-game NRL veteran alongside fellow late acquisition Luciano Leilua has already made the Dragons a newly formidable prospect up front, but Faitala-Mariner feels a new-look power-running pack has only scratched the surface over the opening month.

"I know it's only round five, but I still feel that our pack in particular has a lot more to offer," Faitala-Mariner said.

"We're still trying to find our feet and get into a flow of things with a lot of latecomers like myself and Luch. We do have a lot of good experienced boys like Jake de Belin, and really cool heads like Tom Eisenhuth and Blake Lawrie leading the way.

"Flano knows what he's doing and it's about playing to each other's strengths. My weaknesses might be someone else's strength and it's about putting it together and how we can play together.

"Maybe we fell into the trap of things going good in preseason and round one and we thought it was just going to happen for us, but last week we just had a focus on ourselves and building that belief and that trust.

"We saw out there in the game [against Manly] that having a foundation like that can turn things around. Hopefully we can build on that and string a few more wins together in the next couple of weeks."

Having featured on the edge through the Dragons first three games, Faitala-Mariner shifted to the middle of the park in last week's win over the Sea Eagles, starting at lock with Eisenhuth reverting to the bench.

Flanagan may pull the same switch this week against Newcastle, but Faitala-Mariner's rare middle-edge versatility leaves him happy to play either role if called upon.

"It shows my versatility that I can play on the edge or in the middle, so I think it's a good asset to have," he said.

"If someone goes down on the edge, I can cover that. If we have both edges in Luch and Jaydn (Su'A) healthy to play I can go in the middle.

"I think it's a mindset thing. I really need to change my mindset going from edge to middle because the middle is a different beast. There's not as much decision making, but there's a lot of repeat efforts there in the middle.

"For me, it's just doing what's best for the team. I just want to win."