Since forming in 1999 as rugby league’s first joint-venture club, St George Illawarra has had an unparalleled array of playing talent to draw upon. Combining the history and heritage of St George and the huge junior base of Illawarra, as well as a massive fan base, the club has always fielded strong teams in the past 12 years.
But that grand final win has so far proved elusive.
In their debut season the Dragons had a tremendous line-up.
A halves pairing of Anthony Mundine and Trent Barrett, a backline featuring Nathan Blacklock, Luke Patten, Mark Coyne, Shaun Timmins, Rod Wishart, Paul McGregor and Jamie Ainscough, and a forward pack with Wayne Bartrim, Craig Fitzgibbon, Nathan Brown, Craig Smith, Lance Thompson and Brad Mackay.
It read like an all-star line-up.
This team went all the way and was denied by the smallest of margins – a penalty try in the final minutes of a grand final against Melbourne.
The salary cap played its part and several players departed in 2000, when the Dragons finished ninth. But coming into the club through the ranks were Luke Bailey, Matt Cooper, Ben Hornby, Amos Roberts, Jason Ryles and Mark Gasnier.
The future was bright. In 2001 and 2002 the Dragons finished seventh, and 2003 a disappointing tenth. In 2004 they seemed to have turned a corner in Nathan Brown’s second year as coach, finishing fifth, and then finishing second in 2005.
This looked to be the Dragons year, but they fell unstuck against a rampaging young West Tigers team in the preliminary final, which went on to win the grand final. In 2006 they finished sixth but again made it to the preliminary final, and again lost that match.
Throughout these years the Dragons continued to develop and sign talented players, though some did left the club. New players included Colin Best, Ben Creagh, Michael Ennis, Brett Firman, Clint Greenshields, Matthew Head, Brent Kite, Brett Morris, Wes Naiqama, Justin Poore, Mark Riddell, Ben Ross, Ashton Sims, Dean Young and Nick Youngquest.
2007 was a very tough year for the club, which finished a woeful 13th, and then progress was made the following year with a seventh-placed finish. But the likes of Simon Woolford, Jamie Soward, Chase Stanley, Beau Scott, Jarrod Saffy, Wendell Sailor, Jason Nightingale, Josh Morris and Chris Houston either were developed from within or joined the Dragons.
The arrival of super coach Wayne Bennett in 2009 has seen the club secure back-to-back minor premierships in the past two seasons as the clear dominant side of the competition.
Last year the Dragons were knocked out by Brisbane in the semis, and this year they face West Tigers in the preliminary finals.
So in 12 years they have won two minor premierships, made one grand final and nine semi finals. With the immense playing talent available to them, probably only comparable to the Broncos in their early days, this has to regarded as disappointing.
It’s hard to argue that the salary cap has not played its disruptive part, resulting in many Dragons juniors joining other clubs – Patten, Fitzgibbon, Ryles, Kite, Bailey, Josh Morris, etc. But this is the same for every club, most notably Parramatta’s young team of 2001.
There is also massive expectation at a club like St George, with its rich history and being accustomed to success. And at times the changes in coaches, and perhaps Nathan Brown’s inexperience, have not helped.
Luck is another factor that teams need to go all the way and win a grand final.
But putting all those things aside, the Dragons have just not performed well enough with the quality at their disposal. I am not regarding them as chokers, but their record in the past twelve years has just not been good enough considering their situation. I think with Bennett at the helm the Dragons will win a title soon.
Whether it’s this year, that’s hard to say, especially as they face their bogey team the West Tigers this weekend.
But if they don’t claim a title soon, the joint-venture must be seen as a failure considering the big advantages the Dragons have been able to utilize.
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