A maiden NRL premiership and a desire to mentor the next generation of Sharks players through the rigour of an NRL season has Josh Dugan keen on extending his contract with Cronulla beyond 2021.
“I feel good,” he said Thursday. “I’ve got one more year left on my contract and I’ve spoken to the club about maybe extending. I’m going through that process at the moment.”
It was just over six months ago when reports emerged claiming Dugan was trying to leave Cronulla and that medical retirement was an issue due to a chronic knee injury.
"I never actively sought medically retiring," Dugan told reporters at the time.
"It was tossed up and I said if it did come down to it, I've had a good run. It's something you just have to accept being in the league for 12-plus years.
"I thought about it, I was definitely disappointed to hear that this may be the end for me but at the same time I didn't want to fully accept it.”
Since then, Dugan has appeared in 13 games of a possible 17, returning in time to fill Josh Morris’ departure after round 2.
He missed the round 11 derby against St George Illawarra and then was kept on ice for another week against the Broncos with hamstring dramas, but since his return – aside from being pulled from the Titans game due to a HIA – he’s appeared in nearly every minute.
“I feel like I’ve been playing pretty good footy and I have next year as well,” Dugan said. “I’m in a mindset where I feel like I can keep going for a year or two. For the rest, we’ll see how we go.”
Whether Cronulla feel the same remains to be seen.
MORE: The highs and lows of Josh Dugan's incredible NRL career
Dugan was shopped around to rival clubs, even fielding an offer from Catalans, in the off-season.
Of the players to feature in 2020 so far, Matt Moylan, Shaun Johnson, William Kennedy, Nene Macdonald, Billy Magoulias, Mawene Hiroti, Sifa Talakai, Connor Tracey, Toby Rudolf and Aaron Woods are all off-contract in 2021.
Hard decisions will have to be made.
The former Test and Origin star won’t be signing a multi-year contract worth north of $750,000 a season again. However, while the Sharks have been locking up their young talent to multi-year deals, there remains a dearth of experience in the backline.
Of the four other back five named in round 1 (Josh Morris started in place of Dugan), just one player has notched up 50 NRL games.
Will Kennedy is 23 and has played 15 NRL games. Sione Katoa is 23 and has 32 NRL games. Jesse Ramien is somehow still just 23 and has played 54 NRL games since debuting in 2017. Ronaldo Mulitalo is 20 and has notched up 20 games.
Cronulla will have to decide if Kennedy is their long-term fullback and what Matt Moylan’s future looks like, but the Sharks backline needs experience.
Dugan wants to be that guy.
“I’m at a stage in my career where I can be more of a teacher as well, helping out the young guys with defensive systems and just learning the game,” Dugan said.
“I have a little bit of unfinished business, too. We’ve got a good young squad here and have signed a lot of the younger guys for a bit longer, so I’m definitely keen to be a part of that.”
Mulitalo knows Dugan’s influence better than most. Typically standing outside Dugan on Cronulla’s left, the winger has relied on the Test and Origin rep.
"Dugie is one of those influential players, I think it’s harder to explain it," Mulitalo said.
"It’s one of those things if you actually play with him, you understand.
"Playing outside him, he makes you feel comfortable, he comes in and does the work he needs to do. We can always expect something out of him and we know what we’re going to get out of him.
"Being able to play that many games speaks for itself, he’s one of the best teammates I’ve had so far and he’s helped me so much in my short career so far."
Mention Dugan and there’ll be the inevitable claim that he misses too many games. He did manage just 14 games in an injury-marred 2018 campaign, his lowest return since 2013.
What often gets lost is that he played 23 games in 2019, crossing for 11 tries.
Dugan has to get through this year. And next. That’s a lot of runway.
22-year-old Jackson Ferris made his NRL debut in round 12, yet remains off-contract.
Sifa Talakai has moonlighted in the centres but Sharks coach John Morris has already indicated that Talakai’s future is in the back row.
Jensen Taumoepeau has re-signed through 2022 after debuting for Newtown in 2019, but is still just 20.
Hiroti is off-contract in 2021 but is a winger, scoring 17 tries in 19 games last year for North Sydney in the Canterbury Cup to be named in the NSWRL Team of the Year.
Morris has shown a willingness to promote from within and, unless Cronulla is going all-in on a Kotoni Staggs or Stephen Crichton (assuming he tests the open market, which is unlikely), Dugan’s retention – if healthy – makes sense.
According to Fox Sports’ Statslab, Dugan has 1,400 running metres on 150 carries. On the Sharks’ favoured right edge, Ramien has 1,780 running metres on 206 runs.
Dugan has comparable tackle busts, line breaks and has missed less tackles.
Cronulla’s $350,000 salary cap penalty will have ended by the time Dugan is off-contract, yet the salary cap for 2022 – originally slated to be $10 million, is likely to be lower, as the game deals with the financial hit of COVID-19.
Peter V’Landys has hinted that he wants to keep the cap at the originally agreed $9.9 million figure for 2020, but the decision ultimately rests with the ARL Commission as a board.
The Sharks will have to make some hard calls on their off-contract players as they build towards another premiership window – but Dugan’s case is worth considering.
