Former St George Illawarra Dragons centre Matt Cooper has unloaded on the weeks of turmoil that have engulfed the club, claiming there is no pride in the iconic Red V anymore.
Cooper played nearly 250 games for the club over 14 years, epitomising the hard-working and fearless nature the club had become renowned for.
But the current chaos, which has seen young players requesting releases, old boys denigrating the club, the poor turn-out at the end-of-season awards night and club chair Craig Young writing a reference for Brett Finch on a Dragons letterhead, has left Cooper frustrated at the state of the iconic club.
“There's no pride in the jersey anymore,” Cooper told the Daily Telegraph.
“It's disgraceful. It's terrible, where the club is right now."
“From 2001-2011 we only missed the finals twice. Since then, we've only made them twice.
“Obviously it changed when Wayne Bennett left. It all starts from the top… that's where the culture comes from.”
Though both Jayden Sullivan and Tyrell Sloan have withdrawn their transfer requests, the fact that they made them in the first place is a worrying sign as far as Cooper is concerned.
“In the old days, kids would do anything to wear the Red V,” he said.
“They grew up with that dream to play for the Dragons.
“There's no pride in the jersey now, no team-first attitude.
“You can see that when players are asking to be released – and I'm not blaming them. There's a reason they want to go elsewhere.”
The decision of Young to drag the club into the matter of Brett Finch – who has pleaded guilty and is now awaiting sentencing after using an online service to distribute child abuse material – has also disgusted the former Dragon, who insists that Young must now step down.
“For the chairman of the board to give a reference to a person who used a sex chat service to send sick messages about young boys is just disgusting,” Cooper said.
“To do it on a club letterhead is even worse. If I was still a player I would have spoken up about it. In fact, I'd even have to consider my position at the club.”
Matty is spot on. The club is a joke and has been since Bennett left. I’m never been more disgusted with how they operate and how they accept and embrace mediocrity. To have even signed a loser like Griffin that was punted from two other clubs and we warned about was beyond belief.
Our retention policies are a joke, our recruitment policies even worse, our board and CEO are incompetent. I see no future for this club until there is a total clean out. I would also get rid of WIN 9 owner as he is behind a lot of this debacle.