NRL head coach Shane Flanagan and newly appointed Female Football Manager Samantha Bremner were among those who addressed the crowd at the club’s What Makes a Dragon event on Friday.
Hame Sele, the Couchman twins, Kasey Reh, Madison Mulhall and Tara McGrath-West were among those on hand for the event held at the Chairman’s Club at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.
Chairman Andrew Lancaster and CEO Ryan Webb both addressed the crowd before Bremner took to the stage flanked by Mulhall and Reh for her first chat since re-joining the club in September.
“It’s been great to come back to the club,” Bremner said.
“It just feels like home… I’m extremely passionate in everything that I’ve felt in my 14 years of playing rugby league. I want to help give the opportunity to both the younger and older girls to feel the way that I’ve felt about rugby league.”
Bremner also went into the appointment of the club’s new NRLW head coach Nathan Cross speaking on his experience within the sport and ability to connect with players.
“Nathan has so much experience in rugby league. He’s been a part of the Queensland pathways system for a long time, and he’s been an assistant coach for their Women’s State of Origin team,” she said.
“I love that his biggest attribute off the field is being a good listener because I think that collaboration is extremely important, and it starts with the coaching staff.”
Flanagan meanwhile was joined on stage by Sele and Ryan Couchman with all three expressing their excitement a week out from the start of preseason.
“All the playing group and all the staff know where we’re heading,” Flanagan said.
“We changed the way we trained; we changed the way we play. We were fitter, faster, and stronger and we probably just need to be a little bit smarter now. We’ve taken some big steps, but we need to continue to move in the forward direction… We can go another level next year. We’ve got to play semi finals.”
Flanagan – whose first-grade debut came in the Red V almost 40 years ago – spoke of how he plans to draw on the past as he and the NRL squad press forward.
“This club’s always had courage, had success,” he said.
“Maybe, the players need to walk [through the Legends Walk] every now and again and have a look at what this club’s done and achieved. I think we’ve taken steps, and the players understand how big the club is.”