Paul McGregor doesn’t want to talk about last year.
And why would he? The new season has brought plenty of change to the club – and early results.
St George Illawarra routed Penrith 42-10 in their season opener at UOW Jubilee Oval, Kogarah on Saturday afternoon to fire a warning shot to the rest of the competition. It’s a new year, and a new St George Illawarra.
The team had copped plenty of criticism last season and over the summer from all parts, including their own fans. It is early days but their opening result of the 2017 season, and the performance, are cause for great optimism.
Especially for the coach.
“I don’t really want to talk about last year, to be honest. It’s gone,” he said.
“Winning is important [for belief]. You get a nicer environment when you win. And certainly when you lose close games you get disappointed with it but you can still grow from it. Playing in front of your home crowd early in the year is really important and we get to do that again next week which is great. As I said to the boys I’ve got a lot of confidence in our group and I’d just like them to value themselves very high. Because not many people are out there and we’re enjoying that and the boys have got a lot of belief.
“It’s certainly encouraging. the boys have worked very hard over the last 16 weeks. A lot of blokes have been kicked in that period so it’s good to see them pull together and play like they train. To go out there and play like that… I think the boys went out there with a lot of intent. They got off their line hard, backed their fitness.”
The Dragons were poor in their Charity Shield loss to South Sydney a fortnight ago, prompting many to ask what had changed from last season. The answer appears to be plenty.
St George Illawarra were fluent in attack despite greasy conditions. They were tough and uncompromising in defence. They looked incredibly fit. And they looked a class above a Penrith team who had been touted as premiership favourites.
“We sort of needed a boot up the backside after the Charity Shield. That was a blessing. It was nice, the scoreline, obviously I didn’t predict that. But I thought we’d certainly be in for a fight against at team that everyone thought were favourites to win the comp,” McGregor said.
“When a back-rower scores three tries it’s nice. I’ve said it right through the pre-season I think our strength is in our forward pack. We’ve got two experienced front-rowers coming on, not many clubs have that.
“I’m carrying that fourth person on the bench as a utility this year where I shared the minutes last year. But the guys are a lot fitter so I expect the better players to play longer minutes in the middle. I was very impressed today, to start with.”
