Matt Lodge has declared Sydney Roosters assistant Jason Ryles ready to be an NRL coach as St George Illawarra weigh up potential options to replace Anthony Griffin.
The Dragons board met on Tuesday morning and, while AAP has been told there was no significant movement on the coaching front, the issue remains up in the air.
Griffin is off-contract at the end of the season and had already been told by the Dragons they planned to canvas the availability of potential replacements.
A decision on Griffin's future could be made before the next board meeting in mid-May, with the Dragons currently 13th on the ladder and the next three weeks crucial.
After dropping games against Gold Coast and Canberra in the past fortnight, the Saints face the Sydney Roosters, Canterbury and Wests Tigers in the coming weeks.
Ryles is likely to be a genuine option for the Dragons, with the Roosters assistant also potentially in the sights of Melbourne with Craig Bellamy indicating he will retire at year's end.
The front-rower played 156 games for the Dragons, and has since served as an assistant to Bellamy at the Storm and to Eddie Jones with the England rugby team before his Roosters posting.
"He'll definitely be a first grade coach for sure," Lodge said of Ryles ahead of the Roosters' Anzac Day clash with the Dragons.
"Hopefully he stays here for a while longer, but he's just composed and he works hard and he's got a good relationship with the boys.
"He's tough on us when he has to be, some can get their point across and some can't but he definitely can.
"He's been really good for me as a middle forward - he's precise and direct."
Des Hasler could be another option for the Dragons as an experienced mentor along with Shane Flanagan.
Ben Hornby and Dean Young were assistants to Paul McGregor previously and have long been expected to be options to return.
Young is currently at North Queensland as an assistant and the club would likely not hold him back if the opportunity arose, while Hornby is serving under Jason Demetriou at South Sydney.
"He's a great coach, he's a big reason why our attack has been flying the last few years," Rabbitohs hooker Damien Cook said of Hornby.
"He's just got a great understanding of the game, he's smart about how he goes about things.
"I love having him around, so I understand why the Dragons would be looking at him.
"But I don't really want to encourage that sort of conversation at all."
