Dragons coach Shane Flanagan has called on his entire spine to deliver, not just halfback Lachlan Ilias, as the team looks to pull off a gigantic upset against the Storm.
The Red V are coming off the bye and are still searching for their first victory of the season after they coughed up a late lead against Souths in round two to lose by a point.
Ilias was criticised for not setting up for a field goal of his own, with Flanagan’s post-match comments making it clear he wasn’t thrilled with how his team handled the final few minutes of that match.
But Flanagan is backing his chief playmaker to bounce back at home against the Storm, with halves partner Kyle Flanagan also needing to lift.
“He’s had a really good training week,” the coach said.
“It wasn’t just Lachie, it was a lot of players in the team. I was frustrated about our performance, but Lachie knows, Kyle knows and our senior players know that someone’s got to take responsibility.
“I’ve got to take responsibility for it and we’ve got to be held accountable when we don’t perform and it’s not up to standard.
“We’ll move forward from it and learn from it because it’s only early days. We’ve got to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
The Dragons have shown glimpses of brilliance this year with some nice attacking shape down the left edge, which is why Flanagan isn’t ready to push the panic button as calls grow for him to shake up the spine.
Their four main men looked great in the trials, with new recruits Damien Cook and Clint Gutherson to provide the calming influence against Melbourne’s elite spine.
