A New Hope for the Dragons
Interim Dragons coach Dean Young has made a bold decision to start rookie half Kade Reed in their next game following the team’s bye week. This move comes after Reed showed promising signs during what was otherwise a disastrous performance from the Dragons on Anzac Day.
The Red V suffered a heavy defeat, conceding 62 points to the Roosters. This loss marked the end of a tumultuous week for the club, which began with the departure of coach Shane Flanagan and concluded with a crushing defeat on the biggest stage just hours after they announced that fullback Scott Drinkwater would join them next year.
Young is not focusing on who will be on the team in 2027. Instead, he is more concerned about how he can help the Dragons end their winless start to the season.
“The first thing I did (after the game) was ask them how they’re feeling, and I’ve got a group of players that are embarrassed by the performance we tossed up today,” he said after the game, where two players were sent to the sin bin, 36 tackles were missed, and 13 errors were made.
“It certainly is (tough to hear). It was a tough week, and when these sorts of things happen, you’d like to have a response.
“I thought we started the game not too bad and thought we’re up six-nil. That got taken away from us, and how we handled that adversity wasn’t good enough.”
Despite the overall poor performance, one of the few positives from the game was Kade Reed’s performance. The young playmaker showed confidence and willingness to take risks in attack.
Reed looked to have set up the game’s first try when he threw a long ball to Mat Feagai, but an error earlier in the play took away all the momentum. He chipped and chased, kicked early in sets, and had a late try disallowed for obstruction, while he didn’t shirk his responsibilities in defense even though he was an easy target.
“I was proud of him,” his coach said, confirming Reed will remain halfback.
“It’s a tough ask going into Anzac Day when you’re 0-7, and I thought he did his best. He’s got a lot to work on, but I thought there were some good signs there.
“Kade will be our halfback against the Newcastle Knights.”
Whether Young makes any changes for that game remains to be seen, with skipper Clint Gutherson likely to be back from injury by then. But he is adamant there are things that need to be fixed if they are to salvage something out of this season.
“Just the way our programs run. So I need to get in there and change the way we’re doing things, because what we’re doing at the moment is obviously not working, as you all saw,” he said.
“I can’t predict the future (so I don’t know how long it’ll take). All I’m focused on is one day at a time at the moment, and I’ve got to go back, review that, and then we’re going to have a really good review on Wednesday and make sure that we learn from it.”
Young went through something similar in 2021 when he was an assistant at the Cowboys when they lost 10 in a row, with the club signing veterans Chad Townsend and Peta Hiku to help them finish in the top four the following year.
But he needs to find a way to build confidence in this Dragons group after a rough week that clearly took its toll on the players.
“They’re obviously down on confidence at the moment, and everybody would be if you’re in the situation we’re at, so I know it wasn’t going to be an easy fix,” he said.
“But I was certainly expecting a better performance than what we showed. At the moment, we’re playing the opposition and we’re playing the Dragons as well.”
