Candidate credentials: Who could coach the Dragons in 2024?

The Dragons are officially on the hunt for a new head coach for the 2024 Telstra Premiership season after parting ways with Anthony Griffin following two and a half years in the role. 

While assistant coach Ryan Carr will take the reins on an interim basis, the club has confirmed it has begun the process of assessing head coaching candidates for next year with a number of potential options available to the Red V.

The Dragons have strong connections to several coaches working in key roles at other clubs, with Jason Ryles, Ben Hornby and Dean Young – who were all key figures at the club through the 2000s – options for the top job at St George Illawarra. 

Ryles, who has previously worked under Craig Bellamy at the Storm and currently serves as an assistant to Trent Robinson at the Roosters, also boasts experience as an assistant with the NSW U-20 side and Junior Kangaroos. 

He remains under contract at the Tricolours, having joined the club last year. 

Hornby and Young both began their coaching careers at the Dragons, co-coaching the club's under-20's side together in 2014, before later moving on to the Rabbitohs and Cowboys respectively. 

Hornby has been in his role since 2021, coaching with Wayne Bennett and now Jason Demetriou at South Sydney, while Young is in his third season as an assistant at the Cowboys and has also worked alongside Kristian Woolf with Tonga.

Shane Flanagan has links with the Dragons after working as a list management consultant at the club last year. The 2016 premiership-winner, who was the head coach at Cronulla for eight years, is currently working under Anthony Seibold at Manly.

By far the most experienced of the possible options mentioned here is Des Hasler, who this year is without a head coaching role for the first time since 2004.

With 458 NRL games as a coach to his name, including Grand Final wins in 2008 and 2011, Hasler is a known quantity and could be an option for the Dragons.

Among the other potential candidates who could come into consideration are former Sharks coach John Morris, who is currently working as an assistant coach with the Rabbitohs, and Kiwis mentor Michael Maguire, who is in his first season of a two-year deal as a senior NRL consultant at the Raiders. 

Earlier this year, Maguire extended his contract with the Kiwis through to the end of 2025 on the understanding that he would continue in the role if a head coaching opportunity came up in the NRL.