St George Illawarra have found themselves in the news for a myriad of reasons this year - and very little of it has been positive for the struggling club.
Sitting in 17th spot on the NRL ladder heading into the business-end of the season, the side have endured plenty of dramas both on and off the field, headlined by the sacking of head coach Anthony Griffin.
Prior to their campaign kicking off, the Dragons had to put out spot-fires on a regular basis. Junior Amone and Francis Molo both found themselves in trouble with the law, while an early-morning scrap between two players in Mudgee raised concerns over their culture.
The latest saga for the Red V centred around captain Ben Hunt, who publicly requested a release from the final two years of his contract before ultimately being shut down by the club at a Monday morning meeting.
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An awful performance against the Warriors in Round 17 likely put the nail in the side's coffin in terms of playing finals footy, with all the attention now turning towards the arrival of Shane Flanagan as head coach in 2024.
But with nine games left under interim coach Ryan Carr, there's still plenty at stake for the Dragons - including avoid the first wooden spoon in the joint venture's 24-year history and toppling local rivals Cronulla in Round 18.
“There’s been a bit going on… it is what it is, it’s a business these days," Carr told the media on Wednesday.
"We were disappointed with our performance last week as a team and we’re excited to get back out there and correct a bit of that this week. Compared to the previous month before that Warriors game, we were doing some really good things and we’ve just got to get back to that.
“At the moment for us, every game is a big game – we can’t afford to treat anyone special or different. We’ve just got to make sure that we get some consistency in our performances, both individually and collectively.
“We had a real good look at that game [against the Warriors] and a good look at ourselves and I was super disappointed. You obviously want to win every game you go out there to play, but that’s not realistic.
"It’s about how you conduct yourself on the footy field and the mentality and physicality you turn up with, that’s the most important thing. If the boys are running out there and they can look each other in the eye and say everyone was 100 per cent committed within the game, then we can live with each other.
"Unfortunately, we couldn’t do that last week. Some players were disappointed with their performance in the Warriors game – we’re looking to get back to that and be the best version of ourselves."
Ben Hunt 'fully committed' to Dragons despite release request
Hunt's decision to ask for an early exit from Wollongong didn't come as a major surprise to many within the rugby league world, with the halfback criticising the club's management and handling of the Griffin departure.
The 33-year-old is now locked in to face the Sharks on Thursday night and will see out the remainder of the season with the Dragons, despite a potential move to Brisbane being floated.
Carr is confident the skipper will bounce back and help finish the season strong in the red and white.
"He is fully committed to the team for the rest of this year," Carr said.
"All I can worry about is the short-term with Ben and I spoke to him and he’s ready to go for tomorrow night. I just asked him how it went and we had a bit of a conversation about how his meeting went.
"At the end of the day, it’s my job to worry about right now and the team for this week. I know what he’s like, he is such a competitor and he puts the team first and I expect a good performance from him.
“It’s good to get Ben back training – we haven’t had him at training because of Origin and we went into a 48-hour turnaround after Origin II. Not having a halfback there to do any game prep is a big piece of the puzzle… it’s good to get a proper prep in a spine and it’s good to get some continuity there.
"We’re doing a lot of good things, it’s not all doom and gloom – we’ve just got to make sure we get on top of the negatives and keep building on a heap of positives.
"There’s more than just one player out there – there’s 17 of them that are thinking like that and I expect a big bounce back in our attitude and competitiveness and that goes across the board, not just Ben."
