St George Illawarra Coach Paul McGregor has conceded that depth was a major problem for the Dragons in 2015 but there will be no excuses this season with the likes of Russell Packer, Mose Masoe, Dunamis Lui, Sebastine Ikahifoe and Siliva Havili bolstering the squad.

“It’s a position I wasn’t fortunate enough to have last year,” McGregor said.

“There’s nothing like competition for spots. I know all the good teams have it.

“They’ve all got quality players across the board and certainly always someone there to take their positions.

“I think we’re really starting to build on that here if look at where we were at this time last year to where we are this year.”

Meanwhile Warriors forward Ryan Hoffman says their fate at the Auckland Nines is in the team’s hands.

There may be expectation from friends and family and there is always going to be expectation from fans because they want to see us do well,” said Hoffman.

“But we can’t control that expectation, we can’t control that level of interest. All we can control is what happens over the white lines. We are going to enjoy it and we want to do well.”