He conceded the dressing room resembled a ‘MASH unit’ after a fifth straight defeat - but St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor claimed he was ‘excited’ after Sunday’s 22-9 loss to Cronulla.
Already missing Gareth Widdop (shoulder), Corey Norman (cheekbone) and Jack de Belin (suspension), the Dragons lost NSW forward Tyson Frizell (concussion) and Tim Lafai (ankle) in the first half against the Sharks.
England prop James Graham also succumbed to an ankle injury at half-time and left WIN Stadium in a moon boot to cap another disastrous outing for the Red V, who sit in 13th place on the NRL ladder after just four wins.
But despite the pain of another loss and more injuries to star players, McGregor was surprisingly upbeat ahead of the Dragons’ first bye of the season.
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“I was disappointed last week after the performance (in a 45-12 loss to Newcastle) but I thought tonight we were very brave, courageous at times,” McGregor said.
“The first half we went in with a lead and obviously some changes affected the make-up of the side but we didn’t give ourselves any chance with our errors.
“And that was compounded by a referee that gave a 5-1 penalty count (against us) in the second half.
“… No, I’m not shattered with that performance, I’m actually excited (by the) big difference within seven days but it wasn’t good enough.
“… We know the situation we’re in and I know where we can go to.
“Healthy bodies will help and time away in the next couple of days will freshen a few people up.”
McGregor confirmed Norman will return for the Round 13 clash against Canterbury in a fortnight but conceded Lafai and Graham could both be unavailable.
“It looks like tonight James and Lafai have ankle injuries – at the moment I don’t know the extent but if James doesn’t come back on the field it’s a bad one … and he’s in a boot,” he said.
“And Lafai is on crutches so they’re both highly unlikely but we’ve got the bye next week so that helps.”
The coach added of Blues forward Frizell, who was named in Brad Fittler’s side for Origin I on Sunday night: “Tyson’s up and about, he was up and about at half-time but he was in no state to go back on the field.
“I’m not sure about the Origin, I’ll leave that to the doctors, but he knows the scoreline … so he looks OK.”
