Paul McGregor is considering switching Josh Dugan between centre and fullback during matches while the St George Illawarra coach has also removed the shackles on halves Benji Marshall and Gareth Widdop in a bid to spark the Dragons attack.
Marshall and Widdop will no longer be contained to one side of the field, with the duo given a roaming license by McGregor. Dugan, too, is set to have a revamped role, with McGregor set to have Dugan floating between fullback and centre during games. The move could see Dugan defend in the centres before attacking at fullback with McGregor wanting Dugan, Marshall and Widdop to get their hands on the ball as much as they can.
"I think he is the type of player that can handle it," McGregor said of Dugan. "He is a brilliant running player. Josh with the ball in hand is a great sight. The more we get him the ball the better the group will be and the more dangerous we look. We'd like to see him with the football in his hands a lot. We are working on getting the important people in our football team with the hands on the ball as much as possible."
McGregor said he had not settled on a permanent position for Dugan despite the departure of fullback options Gerard Beale and Brett Morris. Dugan was strong in his switch to centre when McGregor took over as Dragons coach midway through last season, before playing a starring role for the Blues in the backline.
McGregor nominated Peter Mata'utia and Adam Quinlan as potential fullbacks. "Josh has been training a bit of both. He is really keen on doing that," McGregor said. "Fullbacks cover so much ground. If they cover that same amount of ground at training he'll break down. What we're trying to do with our group is multi-skill them a lot more. Rather than locking them into an edge, we found last season we had a situation where our next best player was only a left sided player and we needed a right sided centre, so all of a sudden he didn't feel comfortable playing that side so we put the fourth best centre in."
McGregor also wants to maximise the attacking capabilities of his halves. Marshall spent the bulk of last season on the right side of the field while Widdop played on the left. Now with a full pre-season under his belt, McGregor expects more from the duo as they play across both sides of the field.
"You'll see them mixed up a little bit," McGregor said. "You'll see players floating around and popping up on different spots. That's where the game is getting to. Everyone can break down structures; it's about coming up with something a little bit different. Not that people haven't seen before but something different which might surprise a few teams. I have always liked to use the footy. When you have players who can do that, you need to do that. We're not the biggest side in the competition, we have to use what our strengths are which is being mobile."
McGregor has made his mark on the Dragons playing ranks with his brutal honesty. In his first full-season as a head coach he wants the team to unite. "I want this team to become one," McGregor said. "They tried very hard to do that at the back end of the year. Having this pre-season has brought us closer as a group."
