Dragons focus on breaking finals hoodoo
PERENNIAL premiership contender Bell Park is not shying away from the one issue that keeps popping up.
“We ended the year in second, then bombed out. Our biggest issue at the moment is trying to win a final and that’s what we’re planning on doing,” co-coach Tim Sheringham said.
“We can’t see any reason why we can’t win it and that’s the attitude we’ll be taking into the season.”
Despite their at-times elite home-and-away form, the Dragons have lost six finals in a row dating back to their last win in a 2013 semi-final.
It depends which way you look at it: the glass is either half-full or half-empty. The club has been exceptionally consistent for a long time, having rarely missed finals since the turn of the century, but there is only one premiership to show for it since 2003.
Even with the losses of the speedy Tyler Stack and powerful No.1 ruckman Zane Vail this year, the Dragons believe their midfield will bat deeper this year, feeding a forward line that will again be served by reigning leading goalkicker Jarrod Garth and Jackson Bright.
“We’re going to have a lot of guys who can go through there and once you have midfield depth, it gives you the chance to put other mids in other positions and you’ll have stronger guys across half-back and half-forward.”
Still, the Dragons may take a couple of rounds to get going, with star midfielders Jackson Sheringham and Luke Rounds enduring interrupted pre-seasons. Sheringham is recovering from wrist surgery and is yet to join match simulation, but is a chance for Round 1. Rounds is on a modified program with knee tendinitis but the Dragons are hopeful he will be available in the early rounds. “We’ve had a couple of injuries and guys we’re being careful with, but in saying that, our preseason has been really solid for most of them,” said Sheringham, now into his seventh season as co-coach.
“We’re just timing their run with a few of them, but training has been good and we’ve had really good attendance and I think that’s a reflection of the depth we’ve added to the list and the competition for spots.”