St George Illawarra captain Cameron McInnes says players must take responsibility for poor performances after the club moved to bring in a new head coach for next season.
Anthony Griffin was on Monday night handed the reins of the Dragons from 2021, beating out interim coach and long-time assistant Dean Young.
It marks Griffin’s first return to head coaching since being sacked by Penrith in 2018, and makes him the first man hired from outside the Dragons’ system since Wayne Bennett in 2009.
Young threw his support behind Griffin in a brief chat with players before training on Tuesday, speaking highly of the new coach from their time together with Tonga.
The caretaker, who has a year to run on his current deal, remains popular with the players and they want him to stay on as an assistant to Griffin for next season.
McInnes said he was ready for the new chapter, but was insistent the players needed to step up to turn things around rather than any coaching staff.
“This squad needs to take more accountability for our performances, that’s what this squad needs,” McInnes said.
“Whether we need a new voice … nothing will change until we do that. That’s all that really matters.
“It should never have come to this point. If you’re successful you don’t need to change things.
“The disappointing thing for me is as players we have made the same mistakes week in week out. The exact same mistakes.
“And the coaches are the ones that pay for it sometimes, not the players.”
McInnes was particularly close with former head coach Paul McGregor, shedding a tear after his exit last month.
Asked whether his frustration over letting coaches down related to Young given the side’s two straight losses under him, McInnes accepted the team’s performances had not helped the situation.
“First and foremost it’s with Mary (McGregor) but also all the other staff members that have been here that aren’t any more,” McInnes said.
“And with Deano in the past two weeks, whether (stronger performances) would have given him the job or not, I don’t know.
“But we had great opportunities to win those games. The way we have lost them has been through the same circumstances.
“That’s not learning from mistakes and it’s letting the coaches down.”
