Between them the Dragons’ new playmaking combination of Ben Hunt and Kyle Flanagan boast 391 NRL games, 15 Tests and 17 Origins and a grand final appearance.
Between them the Dragons’ new playmaking combination must find a way to gel quickly and then lead the Red V out of the cellar and into finals contention.
At 33 and with 312 of those NRL games to his name, Maroons star Hunt has been the main man at the Red V for the last six seasons, while 25-year-old Flanagan has played 79 matches across the same six years.
Remarkably, Flanagan was just 10 years old when Hunt debuted for the Broncos in 2009 against Cronulla, launching a superb career that has delivered Origin series wins and World Cup glory with the Kangaroos.
In 2024, the Dragons not only unveil a new halves combination bit also a new coach in Kyle’s father Shane, who has promised to have his men fitter, stronger and more resilient as they look to rebound from a horror 2023 campaign.
Fitness and defence Sele's focal point
If the Red V are to play finals for the first time since 2018, much will depend on how quickly the master and his new apprentice can gel in the key playmaking roles, with the new coach adamant they will bring out the best in each other.
“Kyle is a young half who had a lot of expectation on him at the Bulldogs - he had some good days and some not so good days, but he knows what I want from him,” Flanagan snr said.
“His combination with Ben, the influence Ben has had him, how they work together has been what I thought it would be [so far].
“Kyle’s style suits Ben, it frees Ben up to do a lot of things. Ben has been the organiser and had to come up with a lot of big plays but now he doesn’t have to do it all on his own.
“Kyle can just do his job. He is not the type of No.7 who can pull teams apart with his running game whereas Ben can... I think they complement each other a little bit and Kyle has really enjoyed his time working with Ben.
"Ben came back early from his break and their combination has been working well and I think it has helped Ben and it has definitely helped Kyle.
“Their partnership is crucial for our success.”
Also critical to a revival will be putting some steel in a frail defensive wall that leaked 28 points per game last season on the back of 23.7 in 2022 and 25.6 in 2021.
Ben Hunt is dialled in
Having taken Cronulla to the 2016 premiership on the back of the second-best defensive record in the regular season, Flanagan is well aware that their ability to conjure points through Hunt, Zac Lomax and Tyrell Sloan will count for little unless they find a way to keep their opponents at bay.
“You see in the sides I’ve had before, defensively we’ll be ruthless, we’ll work really hard for each other but it’s not going to happen on day one,” Flanagan said.
“I need to instil that over a long period of time and get those players that want to do that for me consistently.
“We’ve got two good trials against the Rabbitohs and then Wests Tigers out in Mudgee where we’ll be concentrating on getting some combinations and working as a unit.
2024 NRL Draw Analysis: Dragons
“Some clubs will treat trials as a way to get the rust out of their players and get them some match time but there will be a different focus from our perspective on how we treat trials.
“The players have trained really hard and their body composition has changed, we are a lot fitter and we move a lot better as a footy team. Now we just have to put some footy IQ into our training and you’ll see a different footy team.”