Coach's Corner with Paul McGregor
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I am head coach of St George Illawarra Dragons, a club with a proud past and history.
Now we are looking to the future and it’s a role which I regard as a huge honour.
As a former Dragons player and now a coach, it’s something I treat with great responsibility.
At this time of the year, every team is on the same points before a ball is kicked and every team has the same high expectations for the season ahead.
It’s all about hard work and being consistent and the players and coaching staff have worked hard in the pre-season.
We believe in the motto that it’s the sum of a lot of people working hard together and putting the team fi rst.
It’s a different squad and different people on the coaching staff in 2015.
This is my fi rst full pre-season after being in charge for 14 games when I took over last May from Steve Price.
The group is a bit different, a fair few are 12 months older and some of the younger players have a bit more experience such as Tyson Frizell and Jack de Belin.
That is one of the reasons we went about getting some new players such as Dane Nielsen, George Rose, Kris Keating and Heath L’Estrange, who between them, have 696 games of topgrade experience.
The pre-season form against Souths in the Charity Shield and the World Series win over Warrington has been OK.
The main thing now is to focus on the opening game against Melbourne Storm at Jubilee Oval, Kogarah.
I look forward to seeing passionate Red V members and supporters attend the game.
TEAM SHOT
Back Row: Yaw Kiti Glymin, Trent Merrin, Jason Nightingale, Dane Nielsen, Eto Nabuli, Rory O’Brien, Will Matthews, Leeson Ah Mau.
Third Row: Nathan Green, Dylan Farrell, Jack de Belin, Josh Dugan, Jake Marketo, Dan Hunt, Mike Cooper, Addin Fonua-Blake, Adam Tuimavave-Gerrard.
Second row: Joel Thompson, George Rose, Tyson Frizell, Charly Runciman, Drew Hutchison, Euan Aitken, Shannon Wakeman, Peter Mata’utia, Kris Keating, Beau Henry
Front Row: Shannon Crook, Mitch Rein, Benji Marshall, Ben Creagh (Captain), Paul McGregor (Heath Coach), Gareth Widdop, Craig Garvey, Adam Quinlan (departed), Heath L’Estrange
Do you have high hopes for the Dragons in 2015?
