New St George Illawarra coach Anthony Griffin and assistants Peter Gentle and Matthew Elliott took charge of training at WIN Stadium for the first time last week as the Dragons became one of the first teams to commence their preparations for 2021.
St George Illawarra's four losses to begin the season in 2020 wasn't ideal, even with much-improved fullback Matt Dufty and centre Zac Lomax trying to kick start their fortunes, and they were punished by only winning three from their last seven matches, which left them in 12th.
The Red V did give glimpses of their ability and at times had an exciting brand of attack but ultimately poor defence and another below-par season cost Paul McGregor his job as head coach.
This is now old news for coach Anthony Griffin and assistants Peter Gentle and Matthew Elliott who will now look to turn fortunes around.
"It was excellent," Griffin said of his first day with the Dragons players. "I met the full squad on Wednesday after they broke the bubble, but it was good to kick it off and get started."
Now heading into their 100th season, Griffin will focus heavily on defence with the stats showing the Dragons conceded an average of 22.6 points per match last season and 23.4 points per match in 2019.
There will also be changes in the attacking structure with Ben Hunt likely to revert to halfback after spending time in the hooking role this year.
The new coach said there would also be an emphasis on tackle technique at the ruck and how they move together as a group.
"Attack-wise there are some experienced players here in Ben Hunt, Norman and McInnes. Adam Clune had a break-out season and young Jayden Sullivan got his debut, so there is a chance to work with those playmakers and put some stuff in place before next year," he said
New signing Poasa Fa'amausili was in attendance for the first training session under Griffin, but star recruit Jack Bird is still in rehabilitation for the knee injury that sidelined him for the entire 2020 season.
Griffin is also excited about the opportunity to work with the emerging talent in the Dragons ranks.
"I got a chance to see all the young guys who are coming through - Cody Ramsey, Mat and Max Feagais, Jayden Sullivan, Eddie Blacker and a couple of academy guys who trained well like Tyrell Sloan, who played under 18s last year and was a standout," Griffin said.
The Dragons problems were laid bare with the figures showing they ranked sixth for metres gained, but their poor defensive showed they conceded the second most metres-only the last-placed Broncos were worse.
"I want to imprint our new game philosophy and the way we want to play both in attack and defence," Griffin said as his tenure began.