The St George Illawarra Dragons are pleased to announce that Peter Mulholland has joined the Club as Director of Recruitment and Retention for the next three years until at least the end of the 2017 season.
Mulholland, an experienced and highly respected rugby league professional, will join the Dragons from the Newcastle Knights as a key senior appointment to Head Coach Paul McGregor’s Football Staff over the next three seasons.
The role will encompass the strategic and day-to-day management of the Club’s Salary Cap, elite playing rosters and rugby league pathways from Junior Representative levels through to NRL, balancing retention and recruitment.
Dragons CEO Peter Doust and Head Coach Paul McGregor welcome the appointment of Mulholland who will be a key contributor to the Dragons future.
“The Club is undertaking a full review of all aspects of rugby league pathways management at the Dragons in line with the NRL’s whole of game review and Peter’s appointment is a key element of a restructured program,” said Doust.
"Paul as Head Coach has strong opinions and a specific vision for the future of rugby league at the Dragons and Peter’s involvement will greatly complement his plans.
“Peter’s experience and credentials speak for themselves and we are very fortunate to have him join the Dragons”.
This is the first appointment by McGregor to his Staff; with Mulholland’s experience a key factor and the roster a key priority for the Coach.
“I am really looking forward to working with Peter, his long association with the game across various Clubs will be of real benefit to me personally as Coach and to our Club overall,” said McGregor.
“Peter’s knowledge and experience will be fantastic for our Club, it is really important that we get our recruitment right and valued appropriately.
“He has good relationships with player managers, he knows the real value of players and what the best options and the value options might be in consideration of the management of our salary cap.
“It could be the difference between a couple of extra players in the roster or a couple of better players in the roster and we need to manage effectively.”
Mulholland began coaching at St Gregory’s College in Campbelltown where he successfully established the school as the most successful and respected rugby league school.
From there he moved on on to coach at Western Suburbs Magpies, North Sydney Bears, Western Reds, Paris Saint-Germain in the English Super League and Penrith Panthers before electing to work full-time in recruitment for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and most recently the Newcastle Knights.
“I have been nearly 30 years in the professional game and I am really looking forward to continuing my career with the Dragons,” said Mulholland.
“I am really excited by the junior talent that the Club has and has always developed and we need to make sure that we can enhance that even more.
“We need to identify and retain the best local talent and recruit to fill in the gaps all the way through the career pathways from Under 16’s right through the NRL”.
Whilst Mulholland has not worked with McGregor previously, he is looking forward to forming a solid partnership.
“I have not worked with Paul previously, but I knew him through Graham Murray when he was at the Club and he always spoke very highly of him,” said Mulholland.
“I admired the way that he actually played the game and I admire his passion for the district”.
When questioned about his first priorities at the Dragons Mulholland indicated that he had already started reviewing the Club’s Salary Cap, roster and options with a view to addressing some immediate priorities.
“I think we need to strengthen our pack of forwards up a bit and that will be the first thing,” said Mulholland.
“We have a few issues to sort out within our salary cap but I am quite sure that is not insurmountable”.
Mulholland officially begins his role as Director of Recruitment and Retention at the Dragons on November 1, 2014.