"I don't think there's any crisis," Creagh said. "Things are going fine. A new coach has come in and taken over. We've seen it at many clubs over a long long time. They come in, they want to make changes. They want to have the team they want and they want to have the players they want in the side.

"That's what's happened in this case. At times last year we did struggle against the bigger packs who weighed a fair bit more than us. It's great Mary's [McGregor] got some big guys in giving them an opportunity. They've started training well and hopefully they'll get their opportunity next year to play first grade for us."

Creagh along with Trent Merrin – who are recovering from off-season surgery – will be on restricted duties until Christmas. The Dragons skipper said he had been in constant talks with Morris before he announced his Bulldogs switch.

"I've spoken to him a fair bit," Creagh said. "I'm pretty close mates with Brett. It's very sad to see him go, but in the end he made a decision based on wanting to finish his career with his brother and also financial reasons.

"You can't really hold it against him. I tried to talk to him about staying. He tried to get Josh here when he was off contract because he wanted to finish his career with him and he was pretty adamant he wanted to finish his career at the Bulldogs with him. When you talk about a player like Brett Morris I don't think you can replace a guy like that. He's one of the best wingers in the world. On the other hand you give young guys the opportunity to play first grade for St George Illawarra."