Graham won't let critics distract preparation

Veteran Dragons forward James Graham concedes he's out of answers regarding the club's latest criticism but insists under-fire coach Paul McGregor is part of the solution.

McGregor's future at the Dragons was already a talking point prior to the competition's hiatus in March and that only intensified after a below-par performance against the Warriors last Saturday.

The Dragons coach reacted to the Warriors result by dropping Matt Dufty, Korbin Sims and Tyrell Fuimaono, while Adam Clune is set to make his NRL debut alongside Ben Hunt in the halves against Canterbury on Monday. 

"No one's looking for the door within the group, we're determined to turn things around and that's all we can focus on," Graham said.

"I don't think the coach reads too much into what happens externally. We know we need to fix some things up and he's part of the solution.

"He's working extremely hard looking at things that happen at training and in the game to solve the problem that we're in."

Graham has also been personally caught up in the criticism.

The 34-year-old is averaging just 58.4 running metres per game in three matches this season with Fox League commentator Steve Roach suggesting Graham's legs were "gone" in a podcast with Matty Johns this week.

"I don't know if he's looking for a response … it comes with the territory, I'm not shying away from it," Graham said.

"I'm not naive enough to know it's not all going to be positive. I'm just going to try my best for the team and looking to improve on my performance this week.

"Collectively, I want to get the win for this team. That's where the focus is, not worrying about what people in the media say about me as an individual and if it's the end of the road quote.

"All I can say is I'm not looking for the door, I'm all-in for this week and that's all I can be. I'm not really thinking about my future."

The Dragons playing group held meetings earlier this week to dissect the Warriors loss with NSW forward Tariq Sims indicating there was plenty of honesty forthcoming.  

"It's not like we pussy-foot around the questions at training, we definitely deal with situations at training and things we need to deal with throughout the week," Sims said.

"We were pissed at the start of the week when we had to deal with the vision that we had to look at where we need to be better and where we were poor.

"From a players' point of view that we let not only our coach down but our fans down. [But] there's no fighting, just honest conversations to be had.

"This week is a good opportunity for some players to stand up and stake their claim in this team and help drag our club forward and get our first win of the year."