The St George Illawarra Dragons have announced the re-signing of youngster Connor Muhleisen whilst revealing their squad for the upcoming season.
Currently, the team only has two new arrivals for next season, Hame Sele and Kyle Flanagan, joining from the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Canterbury Bulldogs, respectively.
However, they have farewelled Zane Musgrove to the Warrington Wolves and duo Alexander Lobb and Jayden Sullivan to the Wests Tigers, along with Jaiydn Hunt to the Broncos. Despite being listed as departures, the trio of Aaron Woods, Josh Kerr, and Moses Mbye departed the team in the middle of last season.
St George is in an interesting position with playmaker Talatau Amone, who is presently stood down but is still a member of the club’s Top 30 roster as of the time of publication.
The club has decided to extend the contract of Connor Muhleisen, but he will remain on the supplementary list alongside Corey Ackers, Josh Coric, Dylan Egan, Jackson Shereb, and Hamish Stewart.
The Dragons have also confirmed eight train-and-trial players, headlined by future first-graders Loko Pasifiki Tonga and Nicholas Tsougranis.
New Dragons coach Shane Flanagan has ruled out making any rash signings as he focuses on building the strongest possible roster for 2025, while revealing he was considering Zac Lomax and Tyrell Sloan in a dual fullback role.
Flanagan, who will return to NRL coaching next season for the first time since his 2019 departure from the Sharks, admits that in the past he would have rushed to fill his roster but is now prepared to wait for the right player to become available.
Instead, the 2016 premiership winning mentor has vowed to improve the talent already in the St George Illawarra ranks, with an immediate focus on fitness – an area he believed the team lacked last season.
A former Dragons player, Flanagan has a good understanding of the club’s pathways after spending the 2020 season in a consulting role and predicted more juniors would follow the likes of Sloan and the Couchman twins, Toby and Ryan, into first grade.
However, for the Red V to become a premiership force again, Flanagan believes will need to sign three or four top line players of the calibre of Addin Fonua-Blake Tom Dearden and Joey Manu, who may be available for the 2025 season.
