Former St George star Gordon Tallis has taken aim at the club, and claimed the playing group must take responsibility for their actions.

The phrase 'St George Illawarra have released a statement' is becoming as common as the free square on a bingo card in 2023, and sooner or later, something has to give.

The regular season hasn't even begun yet, and already the club has dealt with two players in a heated exchange in Mudgee, Talatau Amone falling under the no-fault stand-down policy, and now Francis Molo pleading guilty to stalking/intimidating a woman.

That's not to mention losing both Cody Ramsey and young forward Joshua Coric for the entire season already.

Anthony Griffin is already in the firing line before a ball has been kicked, and according to The Sydney Morning Herald journalist Andrew Webster, his successor has already been identified.

“I know for a fact that there is interest at board level for Jason Ryles,” he said on SEN 1170 Mornings.

“He's a Wollongong junior, he played a lot of football there and was a proud Dragons player for a lot of years. He'd be great.”

The only issue with Ryles is that the former Dragon may instead opt to chase the Melbourne Storm top job if Craig Bellamy walks away, with 'Bellyache' identifying Roles and current assistant Marc Brentnall.

While Griffin has come under heavy fire with a 42 per cent win record at the club, Tallis has thrown his support behind the former Brisbane and Penrith coach.

“Was there a barbecue-gate in the middle of Covid? Did they break protocol? Did they go to the presentation [awards night]? And now this,” Tallis said on Triple M.

“There's three strikes and in baseball you're out. The players need to take ownership of that club. It's really hard to turn over a roster so the quickest way they do it is turning over a coach.

“They turned over Wayne Bennett... Steve Price, Paul McGregor and now they're talking about Anthony Griffin. Don't think that those four guys are the problem.”

While the playing group raise concerns, Tallis believes there's more afoot at the club.

“There's something not quite right with that organisation,” he said.

TOWNSVILLE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 13: Television commentator Gordon Tallis looks on before the start of the NRL 1st Elimination Final match between the North Queensland Cowboys and the Brisbane Broncos at 1300SMILES Stadium on September 13, 2014 in Townsville, Australia. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

"I think behind closed doors they have to draw a line in the sand and back the coach and say, ‘No players, this is it. This is your voice. This is the guy we trust and you've had this voice, that voice, that voice and that voice.

"Who has to tell you to play good? Who has to tell you to put your body on the line, come to training and start doing the extras? Who has to tell you that?”

The Dragons will sit out the NRL's opening round with the bye, and won't feature until the very final match of the second round, on March 12th.

1 COMMENT

  1. There are five important groups in a club:
    – the board
    – recruitment/retention staff
    – the coaching staff
    – the first grade players
    – the development system (including coaches, Qcup/NSWcup team etc)

    As Melbourne, Easts and (more recently) Penrith have shown, a club that gets all five right is at the top of the tree, and one that gets most wrong is a wooden-spoon candidate.

    In the case of St George, it is hard to look at any of those five aspects, and pick one that is top quality.

    Mr Tallis is correct in saying that repeatedly changing the coach will not turn the club around, but – in my view – he is wrong to say that the players are the cause of St George’s problems, and inferring that they ALONE have the responsibility and the means to make everything right. .

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