Dragons 2026 preview: Young guns key to how quickly rebuild done

For anyone expecting the St George Illawarra Dragons renovations to be finished just yet, you’re probably a season or two too early, but Shane Flanagan’s grand rebuild at the historic joint venture is coming together quite nicely, all things considered ⁠— and could hit another gear if the many young guns coming through peak earlier than expected.

A fifteenth-placed finish for the Dragons last season doesn’t do much justice to how well the long-needed Red V rebuild is actually going, with the stats saying eight wins wasn’t great, but the eye test in every one of St George Illawarra’s 24 matches suggests there’s a fire building brightly in the south — it might just take a little longer to really start blazing.

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That will only be supplemented by new recruits joining the club, not least halves star Daniel Atkinson from close-by rivals the Cronulla Sharks. Atkinson may be the no.6 or no.7 that Flanno needs to keep the rebuilding going, though only time will tell if he settles in alongside Kyle Flanagan.

(There’s also Kade Reed, who announced himself to the NRL world in a big way in Trial One early in February, though he’s still a few years and a lot of kilograms away from regular top-flight rugby league, this Base writer would say.)

All eyes at the club and around the NRL grounds will firmly be on the youngsters coming out of the St George and Illawarra nurseries and looking to take NRL spots for good. It’s a long list, too, including Dylan Egan, Hamish Stewart, Toby and Ryan Couchman already on the starting side, and Jacob Halangahu, Hayden Buchanan, and Loko Pasifiki Tonga very close, too.

Splash in new young signings David Fale and Setu Tu, and the future is looking very bright for the joint venture.

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But this year is this year, no ifs or buts, and there’s one thing the Dragons have to do differently ⁠— find the “X-factor” that gets them over the line in the tight contests. They lost to the Rabbitohs, Eels, and Warriors by a single point last season, and were downed by the Bulldogs by two late-on as well. Twelve of their 24 matches were decided by just six points or less.

They walked away with eight wins, while 13 would have got them into the 2025 NRL postseason over the Roosters or Panthers.

In that department, veterans Clint Gutherson (fullback), Valentine Holmes (centre and kicker), and Damien Cook (hooker) must stand up and be counted. It’s all well and good for them to sell the story to the juniors, but they have to show they mean business in the close games, too.

Then there’s centre Moses Suli and second rower Luciano Leilua. There are two tried-and-true gamebreakers the Dragons have had on the roster for some years, neither of whom has truly had more than two or three standouts each season that they’ve played. Should Flanagan turn that around and get them firing properly, they’ll be like new signings in the Red V.

Flanno’s a good enough coach to get the Saints marching in the right direction, and it should mean an improvement on last year’s in-the-end dour 15th finish, but it likely will be another year before the Dragons return to finals.

Predicted side: 1. Clint Gutherson 2. Setu Tu 3. Moses Suli 4. Valentine Holmes 5. Christian Tuipulotu 6. Kyle Flanagan 7. Dan Atkinson 8. Toby Couchman 9. Damien Cook 10. Josh Kerr 11. Jaydn Su’A 12. Dylan Egan 13. Hamish Stewart Bench: 14. Jacob Liddle 15. Ryan Couchman 16. Emre Guler 17. Luciano Leilua 18. David Fale 19. Jacob Halangahu

Coach: Shane Flanagan (3rd season)

Biggest loss: Jack de Belin Biggest gain: Daniel Atkinson

First five: Bulldogs (Vegas), Storm (H), Eels (A), Titans (A), Cowboys (H)

Last year’s finish: 15th

Predicted ’26 finish: Spoon battle (14–17th)

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Unibet odds: Premiers: $101, Top 4: $15, Final 8: $5.50, Most Losses: $4.50