St George Illawarra have sacked head coach Anthony Griffin after a run of six straight defeats.
Griffin – the first NRL coach given his marching orders this season – was informed by Dragons officials on Tuesday morning he would be removed immediately, with Ryan Carr to take over in the interim.
Saturday night’s 42-22 loss to North Queensland was believed to be the final nail in the coffin.
And in a decision which sums up the club’s lack of leadership, the Dragons organised for eight players to front the media at 8.30am on Tuesday at the club’s Wollongong headquarters.
Red V chairman Andrew chairman Lancaster informed Griffin of the decision at 8am – but the players were blindsided, faced with questions from the media they had no answers for.
St George Illawarra captain Ben Hunt – a long time Griffin supporter – was said to be fuming at the disrespectful way the club handled the situation.
Since arriving at the Dragons in 2021 following previous stints with the Broncos (2011-14) and Panthers (2016-18), Griffin coached a total of 58 games for the club for 22 wins and 36 defeats, with a winning percentage of 39 per cent.
Griffin is also the third successive Dragons coach to be sacked since Wayne Bennett left the club at the end of the 2011 season following a premiership the previous year.
Steve Price and Paul McGregor were also cut mid-season in the past decade.
Dragons CEO Ryan Webb thanked Griffin for his contribution to the joint venture club over the past two-and-a-half seasons.
‘These decisions are never taken lightly and on behalf of the club I want to thank Anthony for all his hard work during his time at the Dragons,’ Webb said.
‘Unfortunately our performances over the first 10 games of this season have not met the club’s expectations so it was decided he should finish up his duties this week.’
