Ben Hunt cops veiled swipe from Dragons assistant coach in revelation about Clint Gutherson
The Dragons' assistant coach has been impressed with their new recruit.
Dragons assistant coach Dean Young has praised new recruit Clint Gutherson's impact at the club in pre-season training and in doing so has pointed out a change in leadership compared to when Ben Hunt was captain. Former Parramatta Eels captain Gutherson has received nothing but praise since joining the Dragons having moved his family down to Wollongong to dive right into pre-season training.
Flanaga is tossing up whether to hand the captaincy to Gutherson or Damien Cook in 2025 with both veteran signings showing the mettle they have brought to the Dragons. And assistant coach Young has also pointed out the different in pre-season this year after Hunt's departure.
Hunt and the Dragons agreed to part ways after years of back-and-forth with the halfback opting to enter the NRL market. And after a month of speculation, Hunt got the deal he wanted having returned home to sign for the Brisbane Broncos.
His departure left the club scrambling for a replacement, until they signed Lachlan Illias from the Rabbitohs. There were reports Hunt's leadership came into question at the end of last year at the Dragons, which saw them capitulate to miss the top eight. This is despite Maguire revealing Hunt's representative teammates spoke very highly of his leadership.
And assistant coach Young reflected on last year's performances and pointed out it has been new signing Gutherson leading the standards at training so far. And it's been Gutherson's communication that has impressed Young, along with his desire to demand a lot from his new teammates.
“I’d say we were inconsistent,” Young said on SEN Radio on Thursday. “Our best was pretty good and our worst was poor and that was clear for everyone to see. We need to bridge the gap between our best and worst performances.
“All the new recruits have brought something different (but) obviously 'Gutho' (is a standout). You can hear him and you can see him. He’s a great communicator out of the back and he knows what he wants from his teammates. He demands it from them. We want to be a consistent football team.”
Young was fortunate enough to be asked to join new NSW coach Laurie Daley's coaching staff for next year's State of Origin series. Young helped Daley coach the Indigenous All-Stars team a few years ago and admitted he was looking forward to linking up with the Canberra legend again.
Shane Flanagan praises Clint Gutherson's impact
Last month, Flanagan was full of praise for Gutherson's commitment to his new team having rented an AirBnB and left his family to join pre-season training. And his pre-season dedication has already seen coach Flanagan claim either Gutherson or new signing Damien Cook are in line for the captaincy position after Hunt's exit. "Every player now knows that's what we got him here for - to set examples and standards and not just his on-field ability," Flanagan said.
"He's down here already, away from family and he'll do that before he finds somewhere to stay permanently - that's a sign of how invested he is in our club. At the back end of last year, Clint was his own worst enemy and was playing with a torn quad and rib cartilage damage.
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"He battled away and didn't want to let his team down ... people were saying he's old and tired but he was standing up for his club and we are lucky to have him." In one of Gutherson's first sessions he wowed training staff after he was the first one up Mount Keira. Gutherson made the scent in a little less than 23 minutes having showed he has put a number of his injuries from the 2024 campaign behind him. Gutherson has since moved his family closer to Wollongong.
Both Gutherson and Cook appear to be in a two-horse race to become the next Dragons captain after Hunt's exit. The club recently announced the signing of Daniel Atkinson from the Sharks.
