The Dragons can’t win a game, but this is why Scott Drinkwater decided to sign

North Queensland fullback Scott Drinkwater has spoken for the first time since signing with St George Illawarra, describing his relationship with interim coach Dean Young as a “big factor” in his decision.

Drinkwater was contracted to the Cowboys for next year, but was given permission to explore other opportunities after the club earmarked Jaxon Purdue as their long-term No.1. That resulted in the 28-year-old accepting a three-year Dragons deal from 2027.

Drinkwater said the bond he shared with Young, a former Cowboys assistant, from their time together in Townsville helped seal the deal.

“He was very important, I spoke to him a couple of times,” Drinkwater told this masthead.

“I felt like in 2022-23, while Dean was here, I played really good footy. Even though he was the defensive coach, he’s got a lot of smarts about the game and he gave me a lot of confidence before every game.

“He came to me before most games and we’d have a chat about what’s important for me to play well and gave me a few [tips] …

“He also let me know about all the things they’re doing well down there, it’s not all doom and gloom as it [would suggest] results-wise.

“He made sure to mention a few things about what’s going on. I also have my own opinion about what’s going on from playing them and watching them.”

Dragons fullback Clint Gutherson also played a crucial role in Drinkwater’s decision. Gutherson publicly stated he wanted Drinkwater to join the club, even though it meant vacating his preferred No.1 jersey. It was a sentiment Gutherson also convened directly to Drinkwater.

“Before he said that or messaged me that, I know Gutho and expected that’s the way he would probably go about it,” Drinkwater said.

“He’s such a great guy. All the messages and those things, it’s nice to hear. He’s a person I’m keen to play with just with how hard he competes.

“He’s a really good leader and a guy I hope stays in that squad.”

Drinkwater said the chance to reunite with former Cowboys teammate Valentine Holmes, as well as a series of conversations with Dragons chief executive Tim Watsford, swayed him towards the joint-venture outfit.

“I had a good combination with Val when he was here, that’s another person who excited me,” he said.

“Speaking to Tim as well, we had a great chat and I loved what he had to say. He’s got high hopes and he sounds like a guy who is bullish about achieving his goals. We had some good communication.”

The Cowboys have climbed into the top eight after winning five of their past six. The Dragons, meanwhile, are on a 12-game losing streak stretching back to last year. The Red V trumpeted Drinkwater’s signature last Friday, hours before the club was trounced 62-16 in their traditional Anzac Day encounter against the Roosters.

Asked if he had cold feet after that result, Drinkwater said: “Not at all. I’ve been part of a team that’s turned it around from almost coming last to make the prelims that year.

“I’m not really focused or worried about what the Dragons are doing this year, I’m all in with the Cowboys.

“I owe them and they deserve to have my full attention. I’ve made it clear to myself that’s how I want to go about it, I’m going to dial in with the Cowboys for the next five months. I appreciate the opportunities I’ve been given to live in Townsville, I’ve been here for eight seasons.”

Drinkwater has been in superb form, climbing to fourth spot in the Dally M standings behind Jackson Ford, Nathan Cleary and Dylan Edwards. But after a slow start to the season, he feared Cowboys coach Todd Payten was going to drop him for the round three clash against the Titans.

“I was battling a bit of an injury, I couldn’t train during the week,” he said.

“The way I was playing, Toddy asked me if I wanted a rest. I said ‘No way’ straight away, I’m not going to give up my jersey that easy.”

The tough Dog who is needling both shoulders just to take the field

Christian Nicolussi

Canterbury’s NSW Origin hopeful Jacob Preston has been playing with painkilling injections in both AC shoulder joints since the start of the season as he prepares for a shift to the left side of the field to cover injured teammate Viliame Kikau.

Bulldogs captain Stephen Crichton made a miraculous return from an AC joint injury last weekend, but said he had a new appreciation for Preston’s pain threshhold given he had been doing something similar most weeks.

Preston is one of the front-runners to start on the right edge for NSW in Origin I next month, but is expected to be just as effective when he moves to the left for Kikau (pectoral) for Friday’s clash with the North Queensland Cowboys.

“I had a needle before the game and again at half-time, I’ll probably keep doing that another couple of weeks; it was pretty sore 48 hours after the game … nobody talks about it, but he [Preston] is going through two ACs right now, and has been needling both sides,” Crichton said.

“A lot of people talk about my AC, but ‘Presto’ is really tough. He’s got two ACs, two guards, two needles before games. I think he did the first one in round one, then the second one in round two, and ever since he’s been [needling] both. It’s a credit to him how tough he is.”

Penrith’s Liam Martin’s knee injury has created a right-edge backrow vacancy, with Preston and Manly wrecking ball Haumole Olakau’atu in contention, as well as South Sydney’s Tallis Duncan.

“The way he’s been attacking games, his communication in defence, it’s what Origin is about, and his toughness … hopefully he’s in there,” Crichton said of Preston.

The Dogs are coming off two losses to Parramatta and Brisbane, and meet a confident Cowboys team, including former Dog Reed Mahoney, who would love nothing more than to get under the skin of his former teammates. Forward Jason Taumalolo also plays his 249th game for the Cowboys, equalling Johnathan Thurston’s club record.

In other team news, the Tigers have suffered a huge blow with Jahream Bula (shoulder) to miss Sunday’s trip to Cronulla, with Sunia Turuva shifting to fullback, coach Benji Marshall named Jeral Skelton on the wing, and Tristan Hope is at hooker for the suspended Api Koroisau.

Brisbane received a double boost with Pat Carrigan back from suspension and Reece Walsh overcoming a foot injury for Saturday night’s match of the round against the Sydney Roosters.

Kalyn Ponga (hamstring), Bradman Best (groin), Tyson Frizell (ribs) and Greg Marzhew (concussion) are all back for the Knights when they try to stop the in-form Rabbitohs in Newcastle on Sunday.

And Canberra were dealt a double blow with starting backrowers Noah Martin (ankle surgery) and Zac Hosking (concussion) unavailable. Ata Mariota and Simi Sasagi are their replacements for Saturday’s trip to the Gold Coast.

‘I’m not perfect’: Val Holmes opens up on shocker against Latrell Mitchell

Adrian Proszenko

St George Illawarra centre Valentine Holmes admits there are “no excuses” for the shocker he submitted against Latrell Mitchell and that he needs to repay the faith in coach Dean Young for not getting dropped.

Holmes is the Dragons’ highest-paid player, but hasn’t played up to his pay cheque during a 12-game Dragons losing streak that extends to last year. The nadir was being on the wrong side of a clinic a fortnight ago from opposing South Sydney three-quarter Mitchell, who scored four tries against him.

In his first game in charge, interim coach Young opted not to axe Holmes for the encounter against the Roosters. While the Maroons and Kangaroos representative’s personal performance was slightly better than the previous week, it mattered little after the tri-colours put on a record Anzac Day score of 62-16 at Allianz Stadium.

The form of senior players Clint Gutherson, Damien Cook and Holmes has been under the spotlight in a barren run that ultimately cost coach Shane Flanagan his job. Flanagan’s last game in charge was the loss to the Rabbitohs, the worst performance of Holmes’ career.

“There’s no excuses for the way I played [that night],” Holmes said.

“It was very poor, obviously I’m very grateful I got the opportunity to redeem myself as much as I could [against the Roosters]. I was back on the left side, which was good, I got to play outside young Reedy [debutant halfback Kade Reed] as well.

“It wasn’t the performance I wanted him to have and for our team to put on for him. I can’t say I’m proud of that performance for myself [against the Roosters] because we lost like that. They still scored on our side, they scored on both sides. We were pretty poor all over the park.”

Holmes didn’t shy away from the criticism of his own recent form which included missing 10 tackles against the Rabbitohs.

“The performance side of it, I’m not perfect,” he said.

“I never play perfect footy every week as much as I’d love to, I’ve had some very bad performances in my past. I’ve been playing, fortunately enough, for over 10 years …

“We tried to get up for the [Roosters] game. We obviously know what the Anzacs mean to us, for Australia and New Zealand and what the women and men did for us to be here. At the end of the day, we just didn’t perform well, we didn’t play the jersey proud and ourselves and our teammates and our family.”

‘Let’s hope history repeats’: Why Panthers are perfect inspiration for battling Storm

Christian Nicolussi

Melbourne chairman Matt Tripp says the Storm is “a proud club who will stick together”. And they only need to look back 12 months for inspiration to turn their horror start to the season around.

“It’s probably the most embarrassed I’ve ever been in my footy life,” Storm coach Craig Bellamy said after the 48-6 loss to South Sydney on Saturday night.

It was the heaviest defeat for the club at AAMI Park, and left them with just two wins from their opening eight games.

To make matters worse, halfback Jahrome Hughes failed a HIA and will be unavailable for Friday’s clash against the Dolphins.

To put Melbourne’s start to the year into perspective, however, the Panthers were 2-6 last season before they exploded to life and made it all the way to the preliminary final, where they lost narrowly to eventual premiers Brisbane.

“Let’s hope history repeats, but it won’t happen by simply hoping,” Tripp said.

“We can take heart from what Penrith did, but at the same time there’s a lot of hard work ahead of us if we want to follow the same trajectory.

“I’ll be honest with you, there is cause for concern because we’re playing well below our best.

“We’re training well, they’re really putting in and there’s great enthusiasm at training, but it’s not translating on to the field.

“It’s concerning there’s this disconnect with what we’re doing at training and when it comes to game day.

“That’s the part that’s frustrating everyone – not just the players but the whole club. Everyone needs to dig in.

“The good clubs stick together. We pride ourselves on being a good club, an inclusive club, so we’re all in it together. We’ll dig our way out of this, and the only way you dig your way out of anything is through hard work. The good thing is nobody is dropping their heads.

“It’s not a case of going to ground zero, peeling everything back and starting again. Contrary to Saturday’s score, we’re not a million miles off.

“The squad we have is capable of winning many games and playing finals football. It’s just not showing at the moment.”

TV cameras captured Bellamy throwing his arms in the air and then storming out of the dressing room during the half-time break.

Bellamy has only missed September once during his time at the club, is regarded as one of the best coaches of all time, and for that reason alone, Tripp said, there will be no extra personnel brought in to assist him.

“Plus he’s already got a great support cast there – there’s no panic in that respect,” Tripp said.

“All of Craig’s assistants are first-grade coaches in waiting. [Queensland Origin coach] Billy Slater is also there as an assistant. We have plenty of footy smarts to get us through.”

Tyran Wishart is expected to come into the halves for Hughes, while Origin winger Xavier Coates is set to return from an Achilles injury in the coming weeks.

Souths had never won in their previous 20 starts playing in the Victorian capital, with Latrell Mitchell again at his physical best, while Tallis Duncan scored three tries and did his best to get under the skin of Queensland captain Cameron Munster.

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