Josh Kerr has implored St George Illawarra officials to make a decision on Anthony Griffin, admitting he fears for his coach's mental health amid intense media scrutiny.
Griffin's future has remained in limbo for the past month, after he was told in the pre-season the Dragons would begin canvassing options for next year.
Off-contract at the end of this NRL season, Griffin has watched his Dragons go 2-4 to start the year with three crucial matches ahead possibly determining his own future.
The club's board met earlier this week, but will hold off interviewing any potential replacements until a decision is made on whether Griffin will be re-signed.
"He is going through a bit of a rough start to the year with personal issues as well," Dragons forward Kerr said.
"Having this news dropped on him, he is coming in every day willing to work and doing the exact same job every day.
"No one should be going through what he is going through at the moment.
"He has handled himself really well, I don't know if I could do that. Be slandered by the media and then come in and try and do a great job."
Kerr admitted he was worried about the load it was putting on Griffin as he awaited a decision, while constantly being questioned by the media on the subject.
"He is only human at the end of the day," Kerr said.
"We advocate for mental health in our game, but then we're happy to jump on board with this.
"You never know the battles people are facing within.
"It is a business, but at the same time you don't want to tip someone over the edge. I'd hate for something bad to happen, let's put it that way."
Asked if he preferred if the club made a call one way or another so it didn't drag on on, Kerr indicated that was his preference.
"If it was up to me, I would just say listen, 'this is the direction we are heading. We want you to know that fully so you can prepare and we can prepare'", Kerr said.
"But at the end of the day I am not a businessman, I just a big goofy idiot.
"They are professional businessmen, they have obviously made the call they think is right. So we just have wait and see what they come up with."
Kerr was also adamant Griffin's coaching had improved this year, with captain Ben Hunt a vocal supporter of the mentor.
"I had a bit of a personal drama with him last year, but since then he has changed massively as a coach through the pre-season," Kerr said.
"He has done an outstanding job to listen to what the players have said to him as feedback, change his ways."
The prop's future could also potentially hang on Griffin's fate, as one of 10 players off-contract at the end of this year.
Kerr said he had "no idea" where his future would be, but that he had attracted interest from multiple rivals.
It comes after Dragons head of football Ben Haran admitted in a podcast last week the club could not make a play for a marquee player with uncertainty around the coach.
