![Anthony Griffin has finally broken his silence his sacking as Dragons coach. Picture by Adam McLean Anthony Griffin has finally broken his silence his sacking as Dragons coach. Picture by Adam McLean](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/kZL4qV6yTxfrWZJxKQxjSN/d35538ea-b6e4-49aa-b1ee-b943b98face8.jpg/r0_241_4719_2905_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Anthony Griffin has broken his silence on everything from his sacking as Dragons coach to the future of disgruntled St George Illawarra skipper Ben Hunt.
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Speaking to 2GB radio, Griffin also defended his recruitment of veteran players including ex-forward Josh McGuire and hooker Andrew McCullough.
The 56-year-old has kept a low profile since St George Illawarra parted ways with Griffin last May.
The Dragons made the call following a tumultuous period for the club that included Griffin being let go with a 37 per cent win record.
Almost two months later the man known as Hook, said he was okay with 'his brutal' sacking from the Dragons and hopes to one day return to coaching an NRL side in the future.
During the radio interview on Saturday Griffin said his sacking was a "brutal" part of the game and that he was refusing to feel like a victim.
"It's a brutal sport. Obviously you're disappointed when it gets to that point, But you could be a victim to it and not accept it or whinge about it or you can move on and I'm just happy to move on and get on to my next challenge," he said.
Having served as a head coach at the Brisbane Broncos, Penrith and Dragons, Griffin still has ambitions to coach again.
"I still think I've got something to offer. As long as I feel that way, that's the main thing,'' Griffin said.
"It is a cut throat business, but I enjoy the rollercoaster of it.
"Most importantly I enjoyed coaching with young people and teams and helping their careers.
"I've still got a desire to do that."
Griffin also admitted he had held several conversations in recent weeks with Ben Hunt, who wants out of the Dragons.
"I've spoken to him a couple of times over the last five weeks,'' Griffin said.
"It depends on the Dragons. He's obviously made it clear that if he did have the opportunity, he'd like to leave the club, but obviously the Dragons are in the box seat because they own his contract.
"A lot will depend on them.
"He's made no secret of if they'd want to release him, he'd take that up.''
A lot of Red V fans had issue with the Dragons recruitment plan during Griffin's tenure at the club.
But Griffin defended his decision to bring ageing players into the roster including the likes of Aaron Woods, Moses Mbye, McGuire and McCullough.
"I was comfortable with the way we built the list,'' Griffin said.
"At different stages there was a need to get a couple of experienced guys in there just to help things.
"By the end of last year we had produced a lot of players and we were 12 (wins) and 12 (losses) and the Dragons hadn't been 12 and 12 for a few years.''
Griffin was also asked if he had any advice for incoming coach Shane Flanagan.
"Hold on," he said. "It's getting tougher and tougher to recruit players with the 17 clubs. But he's a big boy and been successful and I'm sure he'll handle himself.''
The Griffin interview comes as reports suggest Flanagan has had a secret meeting with Canterbury forward Luke Thompson in a bid to recruit him to the Dragons.
Flanagan has also reportedly convinced Dean Young to return to the club as his assistant coach from 2024.
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