DICK CAINE generally only needs a minor hiccup to serve it up to Peter Doust. So today, on the day star centre Mark Gasnier announces he will be leaving the club two seasons into a five-year deal, it's hardly surprising the long-time Dragons fan could not resist sinking the knife in.

Caine yesterday rubbished Doust's last-ditch bid to keep Gasnier at St George Illawarra by allowing him to play French rugby union and NRL, saying it was a smother because the Dragons chief executive allowed the clause which gave Gasnier the opportunity to sign a two-year deal with Stade Francais.

And what's more, he urged Doust to pack his bags and join Gasnier in France. "He's covering his own backside," said Caine, a long-time Dragons identity and swim coach. "That's all he's ever done in his life. I truly believe the best thing for St George would be for Gasnier to go for three or four years over there, and take Mr Doust with him."

Caine is a vocal critic of the current St George Illawarra administration, particularly Doust, but he also saved some venom for the Test and Origin representative.

"How many games have St George won without Gasnier?" Caine said. "[Greg] Inglis played the backside off him in the Origin. All this has done is rip the team apart.

"I've got 10 little kids out here [Carss Park], and one is probably going to be one of the best swimmers I've seen. But if I make a big fuss about the one kid, what will the others think?

"They should have said, 'If you can do better, pack your bags, see you later. Here's the cash, go.'

"There's more than one bloke in that team. You don't hear the rest of the team saying, 'I'm going,' every five seconds. He's only a footballer. He's not a heart surgeon.

"He's been threatening to leave for years. And do I remember a guy called Lance Thompson taking a pay cut so they could keep [Trent] Barrett and Gasnier? All he [Thompson] ever wanted to do was play for St George, for nothing. Gasnier should give him some of the money he's getting."

St George Immortal Graeme Langlands also said the saga surrounding Gasnier had been detrimental to the side.