‘We will keep pushing on’: Ryles rejects Dragons in favour of Storm job

Save articles for later

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.

Jason Ryles has rejected a four-year deal to take over as St George Illawarra’s head coach and instead become an assistant at Melbourne next year.

The move has blindsided Dragons officials, who only an hour earlier publicly stated that talks with Ryles were progressing. Ryles is expected to immediately finish up as an assistant to Trent Robinson at the Roosters, with a view to joining Craig Bellamy’s coaching staff in 2024.

It is expected that he will eventually take over from Bellamy, who has indicated he will again coach the Storm next year. The Red V’s search for a replacement for Anthony Griffin — Ryan Carr is the interim coach — must now start anew. Dean Young and Ben Hornby are the new frontrunners.

“We had discussions, he was one of the preferred, but he has withdrawn. We will keep pushing on,” said Dragons CEO Ryan Webb.

“If he felt it wasn’t the right role for him, you’d rather find out now than in six months. These things can be drawn-out processes, but you’d rather find out now while we still have time to find the right person.”

Asked if it reflected badly on the Dragons that a rookie would turn down a long and lucrative head coaching contract at the club, Webb said: “That’s a call for Jason. It’s a big job and it’s a big club, that’s for him to answer.”

Jason Ryles was the front-runner for the Dragons job.Credit: Getty Images

Webb said he was still hopeful that a long-term replacement for Griffin could be found within a fortnight.

“There’s been a process ongoing with all the other candidates, we just continue that on,” he said. “There’s just one less candidate in the mix now.

“I still hope we can get it done in the next week or two. We don’t want this to drag out, we need to sort this out as quickly as possible.

“We have something in motion, it’s not like we need to start something now.”

Webb said it was too early to say whether Carr could be in the frame for the job permanently. Asked if he felt Ryles used the Dragons as leverage in discussions elsewhere, Webb said: “No, I don’t feel like that.

“This is just a process. You get to the pointier end and they either go your way or another. I don’t feel used up at all, these are just the way things play out.”

Stream the NRL Premiership 2023 live and free on 9Now.

Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.

Most Viewed in Sport

From our partners

Source: Read Full Article