Dragons revive former coach in surprise hire

After six years in the coaching wilderness, Matthew Elliott's career has been brought back to life by the Dragons, with the former Raiders, Panthers and Warriors head coach brought on as an assistant to Anthony Griffin.

Following the news that champion clubman Dean Young would be moving on rather than continuing his apprenticeship under Griffin, the Dragons have secured Elliott to join Peter Gentle - the man who filled the seat vacated by Anthony Seibold to end a disastrous season at the Broncos as the club's interim head coach - as an experienced assistant coaching duo.

While Gentle has served as an assistant coach continuously since returning from a stint in the Super League as head coach of Hull in 2012-2013, Elliott has been without a full-time coaching role since parting ways with the Warriors in 2014.

Both Elliott and Gentle played first grade for St George in their playing days.

The Dragons also announced Tony Guilfoyle as the club's new physical performance manager, having previously held similar roles under Griffin at the Panthers and Broncos.

Dan Lawson moves into the medical performance manager role with Elliot Jackson and Cody Parsons also new additions to the club in strength and conditioning and sports science respectively. Physiotherapist Davis Theobald will remain at the club.

The new appointments signify an incredible clean-out following the axing of Paul McGregor who took the reins as head coach of the joint venture back in 2014.

Ben Haran has stepped into the role as general manager of football and will oversee the impending structural and personnel changes.

"Change was inevitable for our football department heading into the 2021 season following the appointment of Anthony Griffin," Haran said.

"We are pleased with the personnel that will join the Dragons in preparation for our 2021 campaign, and how they will connect under the new structure we have put in place."

from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/dragons-finalise-2021-coaching-team-matt-elliott-revival/2f9a6ba0-b644-45ba-8f13-17a598e76ea9