They may have got their man following the news that Ben Hunt had signed an extension with the Red V, but there may still be issues with the rest of the playing group after virtually no players turned up to the club's end-of-season awards night.
The Dragons were one of the last NRL clubs to hold their presentation, but the Sydney Morning Herald has revealed that just three of the club's Top 30 actually attended the ceremony at Pyrmont's Doltone House.
It doesn't bode well after a season of disruption and scrutiny about the future of coach Anthony Griffin. It seemed at one point that Griffin's future was dependent on Hunt remaining, but it's unlikely that any clauses surrounding the coach's future would have been built into Hunt's new deal.
It's been reported that the club is blaming a scheduling mishap, although players were initially advised of the event six weeks ago.
“We had to wait until the completion of the NRLW season to make sure everybody had the opportunity to celebrate,” Dragons chief Ryan Webb told the Herald.
“When you do this it meant our men's team were three or four weeks into their leave period, so many had gone on holidays. It's a tricky situation for a lot of clubs, with both NRL and NRLW teams."
The Dragons were the only team who didn't make the NRL finals to wait until after the grand final to hold their presentation night. Though some players are on leave and others are preparing for the World Cup, it's been reported that many players simply chose not to attend after the event was deemed non-mandatory.
While the majority of the NRLW squad was at the event, only Zac Lomax, Michael Molo and the club's Player of the Year, Ben Hunt, were in attendance.
It comes as young duo Jayden Sullivan and Tyrell Sloan both continue to chase releases from the club – with Sullivan's request coming in the wake of Hunt's decision to stay.
