‘Feels good’: What makes Ilias’ Dragons switch special… and text barrage that sealed reunion

‘IT WASN’T PRETTY’: Hunt defends commitment to Dragons amid ‘messy’ exit

Cook also directed a barrage of texts and calls to Ilias himself to convince him that the Dragons was the place for him to be for the next phase of his career.

“Yeah, he was calling my phone every day,” Ilias said.

“I think he was pestering Flanno as well. He’s been great. It’s good to still have that combination going and being in that combination at a new club definitely helps.

“It’s good to have Cookie and even Jaydn Su’A and Hame Sele. They were former Souths boys as well, so the transition’s been pretty good.”

After four seasons of first grade for Souths since his debut in 2021, Ilias admits it was a shock putting on the Dragons training gear, but revealed an affiliation with the club as a youngster.

“Yeah, it is different, it’s good though,” Ilias said.

“I actually was a Dragons fan. That was my first team while I was growing up, so it’s not too unfamiliar, but it feels good.”

Souths were keen to try Ilias as a potential bench utility, but while he initially wanted to stay and fight for his spot, some honest discussions with Wayne Bennett helped him make the decision to move.

“Saints gave me the opportunity to come play halfback here,” Ilias said.

“Wayne was nice and honest and said, I wasn’t going to get the first crack at Souths, so I appreciate him being honest, so I could try and get a start somewhere.

“And I’m just so glad that Shane (Flanagan) gave me a chance and said, it would be really nice to have you here.”

Ilias doesn’t know what number he will wear next season, but is eyeing the halfback position after 10 tries in 53 games for Souths in the No.7.

“I’m not sure, numbers-wise, but the plan is to play halfback,” Ilias said.

While he may have been dropped from the Souths’ halfback role last season, Cook believes Ilias is ready to become a consistent NRL No.7.

“I think he is ready,” Cook said.

“I think he believes in himself. He has always done that quite well. He is one of those players you love to play alongside of.

“He is also a great defender and he is one of those players that always works hard for your team and will always be chasing back as well, so he has plenty of great attributes there.

“But I think we haven’t been able to see the best of Lachy with the ball yet.

“Last year Souths struggled and were on the back foot and didn’t have the best start to the year and he took a fair bit of heat for that.

“I’m really looking forward to him having a fresh start and showing everyone what he can do.”

With a number of changes in the Dragons spine, Cook believes his combination with Ilias from their Souths days will be a huge positive for the club.

“It is good having that combination and I wanted him here because I believe in him and I know how quality a player he really is,” Cook said.

“And I know how much he wants to play halfback and that’s where he wants to be.

“Obviously an opportunity popped up here, so its great to have him here.

“Having that combination there already is great because across the spine we have got a few new players with Gutho as well, so it will definitely help.”

Ilias will now have to fill the shoes of Ben Hunt after stepping into first grade to replace Adam Reynolds and with that comes a lot of pressure.

However, Cook believes Ilias was unfairly criticised over Souths’ struggles last year and knows exactly what he can bring to the Dragons.

“Externally it may have looked like that because of Adam Reynolds and the quality of player he is,” Cook said.

“But Lachlan is a completely different player to Adam. I feel like he was quite hard done by, especially last year, so I’m excited he has got his fresh start and I look forward to him playing the footy that I know he can play.”

Cook’s enthusiasm to sign Ilias had more to do with his passion for seeing his new club get back to success than any personal bias.

“I don’t know if he took any of my word for it,” Cook said of his advice for Flanagan.

“When there is a few halves there and he asked my opinion, I just gave it how it was and obviously I am going to have a strong opinion of Lachy because I worked with him and I know what it was like to play alongside him.”

But before Ilias can return to full training he needs to complete his rehab after breaking his leg last year and he admits his recovery has been a slow grind at times.

“I haven’t really had a major injury before, so it’s obviously different,” Ilias said.

“It was slow at times, but there’s a bit of a crew around at Souths in rehab, so we got each other through it.

“Keen to start fresh now. The leg is feeling good. The boys are training really hard, so it’s great to see, and I’m keen to be able to be on the field with them.”

However, Ilias admits he was devastated originally when he first broke his leg.

“It was tough to accept at first,” Ilias said.

“When I first got told I broke my tibia, obviously it’s not a bone you really want to break, but after I had a bit of a cry, I accepted it and it was all good.

“You’ve got to think about what’s important next and what direction you’re going in, so that’s how I went with it.

“I had a lot of boys come to me in the hospital as well, so everyone’s sort of helped me.”

One positive was that his manager Braith Anasta had a similar injury and reassured him he could get back to his best, while he also got a straight clean break, which helped his recovery.

“Braith actually did the same injury,” Ilias said.

“But the way I broke it was straight across. And they said that’s the best way to break it, not sort of diagonally or anything like that.

“So it was a clean break across, and it’s actually better for the healing process. The bone just heals better, so the bone’s really strong.”

The time away from the game gave Ilias plenty of time to think, but he didn’t feel the pressure of his contract saga weighed him down.

“No, not really because I had the extra year at Souths anyway, so there wasn’t really any rush to go anywhere,” Ilias said.

“It was good in a way just so we could see where we are at. But I’m a Dragon now and I’m loving it.”

Many feel Ilias was thrown in the deep end too early in his development at Souths, but he is just grateful for the opportunity.

“I don’t know, I think anyone can just think what they want,” Ilias said.

“Obviously I got thrown in, but someone had to get thrown in.

“I just thought I took it as a challenge. I think I’m more experienced now and I’m ready for that responsibility now. Not saying I wasn’t then, I’m just more so now.

“I’m really looking forward to it and I think this is the right club to do it at. I’m happy to be here and I really want to lead the boys around.

“We’ve got a really good bunch of boys here, so I’m just excited to work hard with them and win a lot of games.”

Hunt takes an NRL best 34 try assists from 2024 with him to the Broncos, so the onus will be on Ilias and new halves partner Kyle Flanagan to fill the void.

Like Ilias, Flanagan has had his own share of critics during his career and is excited to work with his new halves partner.

“I’m very excited going into every season, but I’m excited to start a new combination and over the Christmas break we will see how it evolves, but I’m very excited,” Flanagan said.

Flanagan spoke with father and coach Shane about taking Cook’s advice and signing Ilias and he is looking forward to getting to know him on and off the field.

“We spoke about it with the club and we have a vision for what it could look like,” Flanagan said.

“Once he gets out of rehab we will see how things evolve and what’s best for our footy team and who plays where.

“Plenty of training ahead and plenty of reps we need to get together and I’m looking forward to getting to know him. I’ve only known him from afar and I’m looking forward to getting to know him better.”

Unfortunately, Ilias’ injury means they won’t be able to go full steam ahead with their combination until around the New Year.

“I think close to the Christmas,” Ilias said of his return to training date.

“I think me and Val (Holmes) are on the same sort of timeline. Closer to Christmas, maybe after Christmas, but we had a good session the other day. We have another good run tomorrow, so we’re heading in the right direction.”

Given the changes in their spine, Flanagan concedes it is not ideal to be starting their pre-season together at such a late date, but he is confident they can make up for lost time.

“I guess it could make it a little bit tricky, but just walking around on the field together and talking about what he does in different scenarios, we can definitely do that,” Flanagan said.

“And just spending time together away from the footy field is pretty important.

“I just want to pick his brain and watch video together and work out how we want to work things.”

Flanagan also played most of his junior career at halfback, but is happy to leave it with the coaches as to who wears the No.7.

“I will leave that one to the coaching staff and we will see how things work out in training,” Flanagan said.

“We will see what each other’s strengths are and we will see how that evolves, but we will put the team first and I’m happy to play anywhere.

“My mentality hasn’t changed since I spoke to you guys last year when I first signed here. I just want to to do what is best for the club.”

Whatever number is on their back, Ilias just wants to work with the new spine members to make the Dragons a better footy team and return to the finals in 2025.

“Everyone’s sort of got their own strengths,” Ilias said.

“Gutho’s a really great effort player and he pops up everywhere on the field.

“You sort of have got to, not change the way you play, but play to their strengths as well.

“I think everyone can benefit from each other’s strengths here, so I really look forward to it.”