Dragons coach Shane Flanagan has explained he’s “got a lot of work to do” in the off-season, signalling the Red V would be hitting the open market to strengthen his squad.
The Dragons’ finals hopes were dashed after going down to a late Corey Horsburgh try against the Raiders, a week after a nightmare 44-40 loss to the Eels.
The Red V held a 24-20 lead going into the closing stages against Canberra, and Flanagan revealed he believes his squad needs a shift in their attitude to win close games next year.
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“I’ve got a lot of work to do, I have. I need to instil that in them, that hard-nosed rugby league team, that’s my job in the off-season,” Flanagan said in the post-match press conference.
“We have got to get some of those players in, I know Damien is that type of player, Damien Cook. I know Val (Holmes) has been that type of player.
“So I will get them in and add some more, I’ve been around long enough to know you don’t win football games if you don’t respect the football.
“Our first set in the second half and we didn’t respect the football and it just went from there, we could have scored that next tackle.
“Credit to Canberra that’s the sort of side they are, if you give them a sniff they will keep fighting and fighting. That last try, that’s typical Canberra.”
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Alongside Damien Cook and Valentine Holmes, the Dragons have been heavily linked to Eels enforcer Reagan Campbell-Gillard.
However, Flanagan explained his recruitment drive won’t finish there, aiming to sign two middle forwards to add starch to his pack.
Zac Lomax and Savelio Tamale have confirmed their respective departures, while Jack Bird has reportedly signed a two-year deal with the Tigers starting in 2025.
Meanwhile, Tom Eisenhuth, Max Feagai, Jesse Marschke, Ben Murdoch-Masila and Alec Tuitavake remain uncontracted.
“We need some middles, yep. I’m trying to get two middles to add to our team and you know what the off-season is like,” Flanagan said.
“There’s a bit of change and some things you don’t see coming or don’t know about at the moment. I will be looking to make sure I recruit in that style of player.
“Tough, resilient, winner… we haven’t had a chat with Corey (Horsburgh), there’s been a lot of speculation, we haven’t chatted with Corey yet.
“Now that the season is over, take a breath and then jump into what next season looks like.”
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Flanagan was also asked if the 2024 season was an improvement on the club’s previous campaign, and he was adamant his side showed positive signs.
“I just said to the group down there, I still think it’s an improvement. We’ve won twice as many games and we fell at the final hurdle,” he said.
“We should have won one or two more games we would have been in the eight. If you look at it, we win one or two more that’s a pass mark.
“We have just fallen at the last hurdle, whether it’s we overachieved early and fallen off at the back-end, I’m not quite sure but we will address it.
“We can’t change it now, but we can change what happens next… we just haven’t had the troops at the back-end.
“The group has changed, but not enough for my liking.”
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