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Dragons CEO Tim Watsford has declared the next 12 months will be transformative for the club as he looks to wake the sleeping giant of Australian sport.<\/p>\n
The new year will start with a trip to Las Vegas, before St George Illawarra opens a new centre of excellence in Wollongong and Watsford hopes it will end with a finals appearance for both the NRL and NRLW sides.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a crucial stepping stone in an ambitious project, the new boss told NRL.com in an expansive interview, as he looks to transform the joint venture into a global sporting superpower.<\/p>\n
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A double for Gutho<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re at a point where no one is comfortable where we are,\u201d Watsford said. \u201cBoth the NRLW and NRL programs are down the bottom of the ladder and it\u2019s not where we want to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cAwakening the beast comes through having on-field success but sport is a business and to achieve that success we need structures and processes in all areas of the club\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re at a point in the journey now that the next 12 months will be critical. We have a board that wants change and is supporting management in doing so. At the end of the day, our core business is football and everything we do is aimed towards winning premierships.\u201d<\/p>\n
It hasn\u2019t taken long for Watsford to make his mark at the Dragons, with the new boss shaking up his front office staff.<\/p>\n
St George Illawarra legend Ben Creagh has shifted from the club\u2019s board to the role of chief operating officer, while Daniel Anderson has signed on as recruitment manager and key non-football staff have been hired in finance and corporate roles.<\/p>\n
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‘It’s the best’: Buchanan reflects on debut<\/p>\n
While Watsford is thinking globally, he has turned his focus to within to lay the foundation for the Dragons\u2019 return to their former glory.<\/p>\n
Anderson\u2019s remit involves running the joint venture\u2019s vast pathways programs as the CEO looks to reinvigorate a fertile junior nursery to produce the next generation of stars.<\/p>\n
St George Illawarra have long rolled out a production line of talented youngsters, but the club has found it difficult to turn them into elite first-grade players.<\/p>\n
Some, such as Jack Bostock, Reuben Garrick and Tyran Wishart were let go by the Dragons early in their careers and developed into stars for rival clubs. Others who stayed in Wollongong struggled to reach their full potential. \u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a situation Watsford is desperate to change, particularly as the NRL expands and two new clubs enter the hotly contested player market.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to build a dynasty,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a development pathway particularly through the Illawarra region that is a rich nursery and plenty of other clubs can be fishing from it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got key people like Daniel [Anderson] looking at what does success look like and working our way back from there. Building that robust pipeline is a must have for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got Perth coming online, we\u2019ve got PNG coming, they\u2019re going to need players from somewhere. We want to make sure we are developing the best crop and keeping them.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is a sense of urgency in Watsford\u2019s plans as he moves to ensure an opportunity to turn junior premierships into NRL success isn\u2019t squandered.<\/p>\n
St George won the SG Ball title in 2024, with Loko Pasifiki Tonga and Jacob Halangahu already stepping up to first grade in 2025.<\/p>\n
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Pasifiki Tonga gets his first<\/p>\n
Others, such as Cyrus Stanley-Traill look set to follow in the coming years.<\/p>\n
Throw in a Steelers Harold Matthews side that finished with the minor premiership in 2025 and the future is looking bright.<\/p>\n
The club has been here before.<\/p>\n
The Steelers claimed the SG Ball title in 2019. Jayden Sullivan, Junior Amone, Mat and Max Feagai, Tyrell Sloan and Aaron Schoupp were all meant to usher in a new era of success.<\/p>\n
Six years on, just Sloan and Mat Feagai remain at the club and both have struggled to lock down their place in the first-grade side. The Dragons have not played in the NRL finals during that time.<\/p>\n
Already some members of the 2024 St George SG Ball side have left for rival clubs leaving fans concerned history could be repeated.<\/p>\n
Where the Dragons have struggled, other teams have thrived. Penrith built a four-year reign of NRL dominance on the back of a streamlined pathways program. The Roosters bid farewell to a host of senior players and rebuilt around a young core in less than a year.<\/p>\n
Watsford has looked closely at his rivals\u2019 success and has even turned to European soccer clubs as he searches for the secret sauce St George Illawarra has been missing.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s only early, but the new boss is optimistic he has found it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got a view that we are different because we have a footprint in Sydney and in Wollongong,\u201d Watsford said. \u201cThat gives us a chance to think differently about what will make our system work.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look at what is best practice, not only other rugby league clubs but also the AFL and abroad. We\u2019ve looked at what they\u2019re doing in European soccer to cement their pathways and how they attract talent at a junior level.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to invest in the players who have grown up in our backyard and are ultimately going to bleed the Red V. I can see that particularly in Hamish Stewart, Dylan Egan, the two Couchman brothers. They all are from the Illawarra and have such a connection to the jersey.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can see when they\u2019re on the field how much they want success. Our job is to replicate that right across the field. If I could fill up a team full of Illawarra and St George juniors, we will do that. Our job\u2019s to invest and make sure these guys have every opportunity to play first grade and win in the Red V.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a lean 15 years for Dragons fans since a drought-breaking premiership in 2010.<\/p>\n
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