{"id":332361,"date":"2025-12-07T08:08:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T08:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/332361\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T08:08:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T08:08:11","slug":"dragons-launch-major-sales-pitch-to-lure-rabbitohs-star-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/332361\/","title":{"rendered":"Dragons launch major sales pitch to lure Rabbitohs star &#8211; NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p2\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/nrl\/teams\/st-george-illawarra-dragons\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">St George Illawarra Dragons<\/a> have made a powerful statement of intent as they look to build a quality side under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/coaches\/shane-flanagan\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Shane Flanagan<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">In an attempt to secure the signature of Kangaroos and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/nrl\/teams\/south-sydney-rabbitohs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">South Sydney Rabbitohs<\/a> forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/players\/keaon-koloamatangi\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Keaon Koloamatangi<\/a>, the Dragons went as far as to flying him in a helicopter as part of their recruitment pitch.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Koloamatangi was transported from Sydney to Wollongong as the club showcased its facilities and long-term vision, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, signalling to the in-demand back-rower that the Dragons are serious about bringing him to the Red V.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-159251\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"The top 50 players from the 2023 NRL season: Part 3, 30-21\" width=\"1478\" height=\"985\" data-lazy- data-lazy- data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ab3i2120_e-copy.jpg.webp.webp\"\/>Keaon Koloamatangi reacting to a pass at NSW Blues training. (Photo by Joshua Davis)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">It&#8217;s one of the boldest recruitment moves the club has made in years and reflects a shift in attitude under the leadership of chairman Andrew Lancaster and CEO Tim Watsford.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">After several seasons of missing out on marquee talent, Dragons officials are determined to rebuild the club&#8217;s reputation and return it to the top tier of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NRL<\/a> destinations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Sources indicate the Dragons are acutely aware of the perception that they are no longer viewed as a heavyweight club.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Targeting Koloamatangi, who is contracted to the Rabbitohs until the end of 2026, is seen as a defining moment in their push to reshape the roster and reset their identity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">The 26-year-old is highly regarded as one of the game&#8217;s premier forwards and would immediately become one of the Dragons&#8217; most influential players should he opt to make the move.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Koloamatangi&#8217;s contract status has made him one of the hottest names on the market, and the Dragons&#8217; aggressive approach is a clear indication that they are willing to go \u201call in\u201d to build a competitive roster for the future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Whether the helicopter tour is enough to sway the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/rugby-league\/teams\/nsw-blues\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NSW Blues<\/a> representative remains to be seen, but one thing is clear &#8211; the Dragons are no longer sitting back in the recruitment race, they&#8217;re taking flight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The St George Illawarra Dragons have made a powerful statement of intent as they look to build a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-332361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}