Cameron McInnes gathered his teammates to break the news. He was joining the club's fierce rivals.

Word leaked soon after, his management confirming the forward had signed a four-year $2 million deal with Cronulla.

The backlash was fierce.

Fans were furious the club had allowed their heart and soul to leave. Not only that, Dragons officials had not even tabled a formal offer to their captain.

It's a decision that remains controversial, but one the club is staunchly defending.

Naturally, thoughts quickly turned to who St George Illawarra would chase to replace McInnes.

Andrew McCullough, a player the side has been linked to for weeks, quickly came to mind.

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One name was not on anyone's list. Israel Folau.

Little did fans know, the Dragons had been in discussions with the controversial Queenslander since late December.

A two-year deal worth around $1 million was in the works.

Led by coach Anthony Griffin, senior officials including CEO Ryan Webb were involved in negotiations with the 31-year-old. The board had been briefed on the situation.

It was not long after McInnes' future was announced that the Folau news broke.

Again, the backlash was fierce. This time, however, it was different.

From a broader societal perspective, what colour jumper McInnes wears is fairly insignificant.

But the future of a deeply religious footballer with a history of homophobic social media posts. That is significant. Folau's words have a genuine, negative impact on the community.

Wollongong deputy lord mayor Tania Brown told Australian Community Media she could no longer support a club looking to sign such a divisive figure.

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"I don't care how they play, if that's their attitude I'm not associated with them," Brown said.

There were others who leapt to Folau's defence. Comparisons to Matthew Lodge were made. Some pointed to free speech. Others simply pondered what impact he would have on the field after 10 years out of the NRL.

The Dragons claim they were prepared for the backlash.

"I was not surprised at all," Webb told Australian Community Media.

"It was almost exactly where I thought it would be, if anything there was a bit more support than what I expected.

"It didn't surprise us at all."

Yet, just 36 hours after word first broke, St George Illawarra had abandoned their chase of the former Wallaby.

"While the Dragons did enquire about signing Folau, the club can confirm that such discussions have now ceased," the statement published on Wednesday night read.

It wasn't, Webb argues, due to the backlash.

The status of discussions with the NRL quickly changed once the story broke.

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo was quick to hose down speculation a return was imminent. No submission had been lodged and no request had been made to approve a contract.

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This, according to Webb, is crucial to note.

While St George Illawarra had been in talks with Folau for more than a month, the chief stresses these remained in their early stages.

The club had informed the NRL of their plans and were awaiting word of the process required to have Folau's return to the NRL approved.

That came Tuesday night. It was far more detailed than the Dragons could have ever imagined.

This was when sentiment started to change.

It became unlikely the process would be complete before round one.

There were questions over whether St George Illawarra could even legally obtain some of the documents the NRL had requested.

And at the end of it all, there was no guarantee the league would register Folau's contract.

With the club still feeling the effects both on and off the field of the Jack de Belin sexual assault case, the desire for another run-in with head office was low.

Webb was not present throughout the introduction of the no-fault stand down policy, most of the board members were. They saw first hand how damaging that period was.

The chief is well aware of what all at the club have endured throughout the past two years. He did not want to put his staff through a similar situation again.

"When we heard from the NRL, we realised it was going to take weeks, we saw how long it would drag out.

"We knew there would be a backlash and it would divide people, we weren't that naive, but it was the other factors that we wanted to avoid.

"If this drags out, it becomes a distraction, do we really want this? Is this guy good enough for us to do this when we still don't know if we're going to get approval? The board said it isn't worth the risk."

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With the board holding an emergency meeting on Wednesday, the decision was made. The pursuit was off. Israel Folau will not be wearing the Red V in 2021.

For many fans, it was a case of sanity prevailing. But not before considerable reputational damage to one of the proudest clubs in the competition.

Some at the Dragons feel much of the criticism they have faced is unwarranted. Folau's contract was not signed, sealed and awaiting final NRL approval.

They are also not the only club to have shown an interest in the controversial player.

This is true, however the fact remains St George Illawarra officials had been in discussions with Folau for more than a month.

The Dragons had plenty of time to back out before it was made public. This whole situation may have been avoided had the NRL provided more detailed information to the club before word leaked.

That was not the case. The club bore the brunt of a public backlash. Then they seemingly caved.

Would Webb act any differently if he had his time again? That is a question he doesn't hesitate to answer.

"It was an investigation. They reached out to us, it's something you look into. I'm not doing my job if we're not looking at who's out there and what they cost. It's my job to investigate these things.

"A lot of deals don't come through. This one has a hell of a lot of interest, it divides a lot of opinions. There was still a long way to go for it to happen."