Mary hopes new NRL style saves Dragons

Feb 14, 2017 - 3:12 AM Paul McGregor will encourage his St George Illawarra halves to take a more ad-lib approach to their football in 2017 to try to fix the NRL club's attacking woes.

The under-fire Dragons scored 36 more points than wooden-spooners Newcastle last year, putting on an average of 14 points per game to hold the third-worst record in the league - and that's only because Parramatta had 164 points deducted from their tally due to salary-cap breaches.

It's why McGregor has put that figure front and centre of what needs to change in 2017.

"We were very rigid in the way we attacked last year," McGregor said.

"To address that, we're looking at playing a much-simpler power game - with the freedom to play what's in front of us a lot more."

Who the halfback will be - alongside five-eighth Gareth Widdop - is to be determined after heir to the Benji Marshall throne, Drew Hutchison, went down in December with a season-ending knee injury.

Ex-Canberra half Josh McCrone is favoured to take the spot, while 19-year-old Jai Field showed he could add the attacking tonic the Dragons needed after lighting up the Auckland Nines.

Uncapped 26-year-old Shaun Nona is also in the running, while utility back Kurt Mann has spent time training in the halves over the summer but both are considered outsiders.

"Josh hasn't played a lot of first grade over the last two years but he's certainly a quality player," McGregor said.

"And Jai's an emerging talent.

"He's exciting when he's got ball in hand and, obviously at the Auckland Nines, everyone got to know who he is pretty quickly because there was a lot of space and he could turn the grass up."

South Sydney recruit Cameron McInnes will replace Illawarra junior Mitch Rein at hooker, playing big minutes in the middle in McGregor's new-look attacking structure - which includes more involvement from star back-rowers Joel Thompson and Tyson Frizell.

McGregor, along with almost half his playing group, is off-contract at the end of the season - and the coach is facing pressure to keep his job.

After taking the club to the finals in his first full season as coach, the Dragons lost seven of their last nine games last year to finish 11th, and the former NSW assistant coach said he would look to bear the brunt of the pressure in 2017.

"I understand that there is obviously pressure on myself ... 2017 is an important year for myself and a lot of the playing group," McGregor said.

ST GEORGE-ILLAWARRA:

* Premierships (as a joint venture): 1 - 2010

* Finishes over the past three seasons: 2016 - 11th, 2015 - 8th, 2014 - 11th

* Coach: Paul McGregor

* vCaptain: Gareth Widdop

* vGains: Josh Kerr (Melbourne), Nene Macdonald (Gold Coast), Cameron McInnes (South Sydney), Paul Vaughan (Canberra)

* Losses: Mike Cooper (Warrington), Ben Creagh, Dylan Farrell (retired), Sebastine Ikahihifo (Huddersfield), Dunamis Lui (Canberra), Benji Marshall (Brisbane), Peter Mata'utia (Newcastle), Adam Quinlan (Hull), Mitch Rein (Penrith)

* Strengths: Have one of the best back-rows in the competition. Tyson Frizell starred in Origin last year while Joel Thompson and Jack de Belin have offered plenty in recent seasons

* Weaknesses: Drew Hutchison's knee injury leaves them very light on in the halves, with Josh McCrone likely to step up and partner Gareth Widdop

* Best team: Josh Dugan, Nene Macdonald, Euan Aitken, Tim Lafai, Jason Nightingale, Gareth Widdop, Josh McCrone, Paul Vaughan, Cameron McInness, Russell Packer, Joel Thompson, Tyson Frizell, Jack de Belin. Res: Leeson Ah Mau, Will Matthews, Tariq Sims, Luciano Leilua

* Predicted finish: 15th

* Betting: $67

Source: AAP