St George Illawarra Dragons players in Tears After Having Three Key Players Ruled Out For West Tigers Clash due to…

Even before Anthony Griffin was sacked following a board meeting on Tuesday, a number of fed-up St George Illawarra players had reportedly ‘given up’ on the club due to poor leadership.

Six straight defeats sealed the fate of the head coach – but it can now be revealed many of the Red V’s stars were already ‘filthy’ after a number of prominent club officials failed to attend a function last week acknowledging Ben Hunt’s 300th game in the NRThe team were on the Gold Coast preparing for their away clash with the Cowboys following Magic Round – and were in disbelief after Dragons CEO Ryan Webb and chairman Andrew Lancaster did not show up to the event at Royal Pines resort.L.

You know the respect the Ben Hunt has not just at the club but in the game,’ veteran News Corp journalist Phil Rothfield said on NRL360.

‘I think it’s appalling. There is no excuse [for Dragons board members to skip the function].

‘I heard from one of the players that they were filthy that no one official attended that function. They were filthy.’

The playing group were also said to be bewildered at the lack of clarity surrounding the coaching future of Griffin.

The saga dragged on relentlessly for six weeks, before ‘Hook’ was finally sacked on Tuesday as the club languish in 16th spot on the NRL ladder with just two wins this season.

And following a number of incidents on and off the field, questions have also been asked about the club culture at the Dragons.

In December, Talatau Amone and Zac Lomax were involved in a training ground bust-up during a three-day camp at Mollymook, on the NSW south coast.