Despite being under pressure for much of last season, Dragons coach Paul McGregor looks set to extend his career at the St George Illawarra Dragons on the back of a solid start to 2017.
The Daily Telegraph is reporting that McGregor has started informal negotiations with the club and hopes to extend his deal beyond this season, with his future expected to be finalised by round 12.
After winning three of their first four games to begin the season, the Dragons have looked like a different team to last year where many pundits were calling for McGregor to be sacked.
Until @NRL_Dragons finally wakeup & SACK McGregor I will not waste anymore of my time on them. If management can't see he has no idea, geez
— Benny (@saintbenny63) July 15, 2016
Why is @NRL_Dragons coach McGregor still head coach today. Why won't our board grow some & sack him. Ppl wonder why crowd figures are down.
— George Y (@rvpredv) July 4, 2016
The Dragons won only 10 games in 2016 and were insipid in attack, scoring only 341 points in the season, just ahead of the Newcastle Knights who scored 305 after winning only a single game.
When youngster Drew Hutchison went down in the preseason with an ACL injury, effectively putting him out for the year, many thought the Dragons would struggle again to find points.
But four games into the season and the Dragons have already scored 100 points, including convincing wins over premiership favourites Penrith and Cronulla.
The retention of McGregor is not the only thing the Dragons need to consider though with a host of stars off contract at the end of the season including Josh Dugan, Gareth Widdop, Jason Nightingale and Russell Packer.
The decision to lock down the coach first might help the club retain the players they want, while also avoiding another clean out that invariably happens when a new coach arrives.
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