Gutherson wants Dragons to sign Drinkwater as No.1
Scott Bailey |
Clint Gutherson has endorsed St George Illawarra’s pursuit of Scott Drinkwater, declaring he will happily move position to accommodate the North Queensland fullback’s arrival.
Gutherson launched another defence of under-fire coach Shane Flanagan following Friday night’s loss to Manly, while also conceding criticism of the club’s senior players had been fair.
It came as Dragons second-rower Jaydn Su’A indicated to teammates on Saturday he would leave the club at year’s end, with Parramatta favourites to land his signature.
And in further bad news for the Dragons, centre Moses Suli is expected to miss at least the next two games before the bye after fracturing his eye socket in the loss to Manly.
Winger Christian Tuipulotu has at least pulled up well from a knee hyperextension, and is a chance to face South Sydney next week.
Currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, Gutherson opted to front the media on Friday night in a bid to take pressure off teammates after the club’s sixth-straight loss to start 2026.
The 31-year-old co-captain had indicated last week he was fine with the Dragons going after Trai Fuller as fullback for the rest of the year, before those talks fell over.
Cowboys fullback Drinkwater is the latest No.1 in the club’s sights, after being granted permission by North Queensland to look elsewhere.
Gutherson has played fullback for the vast majority of his career and remains signed with the Dragons for next year.
But when asked if he hoped Drinkwater joined the club, Gutherson was unequivocal in his support.
“One hundred per cent (I hope Drinkwater joins). He’s a high-quality player and you need those type of players,” Gutherson said.
“I want to win. We all want to win, we want to be better. We want to have a better squad, and if … that’s a fullback, then I’m all for it.
“I’ve always said in my whole career, I’ll play wherever and it doesn’t bother me.”
It is not the first time Gutherson has volunteered to move into another position for a club, having done so when the Eels signed Isaiah Iongi as their new No.1 last year.
“How I play doesn’t really matter where I am on the field, I sort of just go about my game,” Gutherson said.
“Hopefully I don’t get another tap on the shoulder like I did with Iongi.
“You just want to have the strongest squad, the strongest players, and then you just fit in.
“Whatever they’re working on, hopefully it all comes true and we can add a player of that calibre to our team.”
The Dragons’ 28-18 loss to Manly has again left Flanagan’s future in the balance, with the Red V’s losing streak now at 10 dating back to last year.
But there were signs of improvement on Friday night, before Damien Cook also insisted Flanagan was not the problem and that the rope was too short for NRL coaches now.
“I think Damo’s nailed it on the head there,” Gutherson said.
“Bar one game we’ve been in every fight.
“We’re not getting the results, but we’re all behind closed doors on the same page. We’re all trying to play for him, all the coaching staff, all the players.”
The scrutiny on Flanagan has also extended to the Dragons’ senior players, given he has signed Gutherson, Cook and Valentine Holmes to the club in recent years.
Asked if that was fair, Gutherson conceded it was.
“Definitely. In this game you always get criticised when you’re not winning and a lot of us older boys take it personally,” he said.
“We’ve been around the game long enough to know when we’re playing well.
“We know the standard we want to live to and I speak for not just me but the whole senior group.”
AAP