The Dragons’ hellish offseason goes from bad to worse with two players in conflict over an incident at the team’s hotel

St George Illawarra is debating whether to discipline two players who were involved in a heated ‘verbal argument’ following Saturday’s loss to the Rabbitohs in the Charity Shield at Mudgee.

The Dragons released a statement to say they were aware of the incident at the team hotel on Sunday morning.

“The club considers this behavior to be unacceptable and will now determine whether disciplinary action is warranted. The club will have no further comment at this time.

After successive defeats to St Helens and South Sydney, drama is the last thing manager Anthony Griffin needs as he tries to salvage his job ahead of the final year of his contract.

The Dragons have been through a hellish offseason with several incidents putting the club in the media spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

It started shortly after their disappointing 10th place finish last season when only three top-30 NRL players bothered to show up.

There was club legend Matt Cooper refusing to show up to the 2010 grand final meeting due to a feud with former CEO, with chairman Craig Young resigning over his letterhead character reference from the club for Brett Finch after being accused of child abuse, young gunslingers Tyrell Sloan and Jayden Sullivan ask for releases then agree to stay and Junior Amone and Zac Lomax get involved in a fight in training.

And the club then inflicts more damage on itself by sending an inquiry to members over the controversial joint venture name issue, launching suggestions that would remove Illawarra and potentially St George from the logo as well.

Amone was sacked by the NRL for an alleged hammer attack late last year and will not be allowed to play again until the matter is resolved by the court. He was charged with reckless grievous bodily harm in company after the incident in December.

On the pitch, they couldn’t have done worse in pre-season – they started with a 30-18 loss to St Helens in Wollongong before being beaten 42-24 by Souths.

First-choice full-back Cody Ramsey has been ruled out for a year with an intestinal problem while young prospect Josh Coric will also not be seen again until 2023 after tearing an ACL against St Helens.

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Jack De Belin (calf) and Jack Bird (knee) were also injured in the loss to the Super League champions but should be right to start the season.

Sloan is likely to start at the back after starting there last year but was let go midway through the season because Griffin was unhappy with his form.

The Dragons have the first-round bye before hosting Gold Coast at Kogarah in the final game of the second round.