Anthony Griffin said he purposely didn’t tell Zac Lomax why he was being dropped to allow him time “to clear his head” and the Dragons are “doing a really good job” of setting themselves up for long-term success.
In his most expansive press conference of the year before a season-saving clash with the last-placed Tigers in Magic Round, Griffin admitted Ben Hunt will spend time at hooker on Sunday in a decision he said the captain had already thought about.
Griffin’s immediate coaching future could hinge on the result of the showdown with the Tigers, who stunned two-time defending premiers Penrith for their first win of the season last week.
St George Illawarra has told Griffin they will interview external candidates for the job from next year.
At long odds to retain his position, Griffin has wielded the axe after a run of four straight losses with Lomax, Jacob Liddle and Toby Couchman all dumped, and Hunt to shift to No.9 mid-game to allow Jayden Sullivan and Junior Amone to combine in the halves.
Lomax was gutted by Griffin’s decision to drop him only two years after he was drafted into NSW’s extended State of Origin squad, and won’t play NSW Cup this weekend.
Dragons coach Anthony Griffin.Credit: NRL Photos
Asked about not giving Lomax immediate feedback on his call, Griffin said: “That’s true. No detailed feedback for that reason. My job as a coach is to care for him, particularly at times like this.
“For any player who gets dropped, it’s hard. I do that with the utmost care on a case-by-case basis. I wanted Zac to have a bit of time to process it, and then we will sit down as coach and player and go through it.
“It comes back to performances, and hopefully for his sake it’s not too long [out of the NRL side]. It’s not something you have a timeframe on or set remedy. It’s just part of football.
“I own a lot of that responsibility as coach, and Zac owns a lot of responsibility as a player. It’s not the first time someone has been dropped at our club, or any other club.
“Any change that we make is in the best interest of the team for the long term. It’s not something we just flippantly think, ‘if we do this, it might work’. It’s calculated and measured for everyone’s benefit, the players and the club long term.”
Lomax’s goalkicking has been well below expectations, with the Dragons scoring as many tries as their opponents in each of their last four defeats. They actually scored more than the Roosters in the Anzac Day defeat.
Jack Bird will take over the goalkicking at Suncorp Stadium.
It will also be the best chance to see if Sullivan and Amone can blossom into a future halves pairing, with Griffin insisting the club was on the right track for continued success.
“The best way to build for the long term is internally and all the great clubs have done that,” Griffin said.
“You see what Penrith have gone through over the past few years. You see where Brisbane are going now, three or four years ago [Payne] Haas, Jordan Riki and [Kotoni] Staggs and all those guys [debuted]. It takes time to build success.
“I ain’t saying that about what’s going on at the moment. But that’s just the way the NRL is, it takes a lot of time to build success. Success that is going to be sustained.
“Our club is doing a really good job of that at the moment. This week at some stage you’re going to have Sullivan, Amone and [Tyrell] Sloan playing behind Ben Hunt. You have the two Feagai boys playing together. You have Blake Lawrie, who is becoming one of the best props in the league.
“There is an evolution or development happening with our club, and it is going to be a really strong club.”
While Griffin dead-batted questions about his own future, insisting he was happy in his role and trying to concentrate on his players, he didn’t hide from Hunt’s switch to hooker, a position he has excelled at in both State of Origin and for Australia.
Hunt signed a two-year extension late last year to his Dragons deal, which ties him to the club until 2025.
“To Ben’s credit, when I spoke to him about it, he had already thought about [moving to hooker],” Griffin said. “It is just a sign of the leader he is that he is thinking of what is best for the team.
“He could have easily turned his nose up at it as someone who is going to be a 300-game halfback. That action for him, is a great example to everyone in the team.
“If I let him pick the team his preference would be halfback. But he understands, at the moment with the people we have around him and coming through, that he can give us a little more leadership by picking the ball up first.”
