True colours: Have the Dragons got fair-weather fans?

It wasn't too hard to support the Storm through the dark days of 2010 as they were still handing out hidings. Sure they were going to get the spoon but players turned up every week to play so the fans were happy to reciprocate with their support, plus who doesn't like watching Inglis, Slater, Cronk, Smith do their thing. Was expecting much more from the Dragons this season, prompted by the sounds that were coming out of them pre-season e.g. Widdop and Benji getting a full pre-season under their belt, best pre-season under Mary, getting some bigger bodies in the forward pack which they were missing last year. Unfortunately it just hasn't come together for them on the field, apart from that last 30 against the Raiders. Early injuries to Dugan and Creagh probably haven't helped their cause much given the lack of depth and the off field distractions aren't helping. Hopefully they pull it together, especially the playmakers....seriously given the talent and experience between the two of them, what they've dished up so far is pretty poor...and I'm being kind.

unless u understand what fans have seen since 99 under doust then this is the most rubbish article of the week, hope your getting bites !

Name a club that hasn't got its share of fair weather fans. Wasn't too long ago Souths were getting 6000 to home matches and everyone was asking what happened to all the people who marched on that fateful day.

How did it get to this?

This line up against Manly is an interesting one as to how the Dragons will go for the rest of the season. Full back, one centre and one front rower of concern otherwise quite good with the roster we have. Against Manly this should really test us! Dragons 1 Josh Dugan 2 Etonia Nabuli 3 Euan Aitken 4 Dylan Farrell 5 Jason Nightingale 6 Gareth Widdop 7 Benji Marshall 8 Leeson Ah Mau 9 Mitch Rein 10 Mike Cooper 11 Tyson Frizell 12 Joel Thompson 13 Trent Merrin Interchange 14 Rory O'Brien 15 Jack de Belin 16 Jake Marketo 17 Heath L'Estrange 20 George Rose

The Dragons lack of on field success in recent years can be directly attributed to mismanagement of the club by the CEO and senior management of the club. It is plain to see and the fans are rightfully upset by this situation.

Yes i read that, it was bizarre at best.

The dragons have a lot of fans that are used to success so expect a large drop off although the Steelers fans will stick tough. The Storm didn't have any impediments - they had backended their contracts so in the years following 2010 they were going to struggle until the cap scandal exploded - that way they were able to draw a line and start again because they couldn't gut Melbourne - they lost some players (incl warehousing Hoffman to Wigan) but instead of having lots of players on backended contracts they were allowed to draw the line and start afresh - a joke....

Exactly Parra. If your club is languishing near the bottom of the ladder, it could be because you've made some poor signings, you've been hit by injuries, you have an aging roster or your players are just not clicking. Any fan would be frustrated by this but happy to stick around, knowing things can get better next season. But when your club is suffering from mismanagement, there is no light at the end of the tunnel unless action is taken.

"Only this year, the Titans went through their cocaine scandal. But everyone supported them and helped them become a force again." ?

Completely agree Epiquin. There is a difference between jumping ship and being critical of your clubs administration. Lord knows I've been critical of how Parra has been run since the 80's, hopefully we are now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Walter you are spot on in your comments in my opinion. Although with Widdop I think it may be worth changing places with Marshall. It will give him more time to think where Marshall plays on instinct.

I can understand why Dragons fans are being so critical of the club. It's not about fairweather fans jumping ship when the going is tough. They can clearly see that the club is being mismanaged from the top down and that nothing can or will change while this is the case. It's fine to show up every week and cheer on the players, but when you care about a club you want to see it be the best it can be and at the moment, the Dragons are a rabble both on and off the park.

I think the Dragons/Steelers merger has been reasonably successful thus far. The Dragons had the fanbase and a much bigger brand than the Steelers so they were always going to be the dominant side of the joint venture. The Dragons also have lots of fans all over the country, heaps of Dragons fans in QLD. They have played some absolutely dour football since Bennett left though. They have struggled to score tries under Price and now Mcgregor. A team that cant score tries is not going to win over the fans.

MT & Ken, you both make great points. The Dragons will always be the old St George Dragons, but with a handful of games in Wollongong and a flashy away jersey. That is not necessarily a bad thing, especially as new generations of south coast fans are growing up who never knew the Steelers brand. It is clear that stadium deals are hurting them. Two expensive suburban grounds that cost too much and can't handle the big crowds that a storied club can hope to attract. However, they need to settle down a bit and try and define their identity again. Playing games in five different home grounds does take away from that sense of belonging that fans should feel towards their club and makes it harder to attract members.

For the dragons to have such an average roster, one has to wonder where the money is going. They've got widdop, benji and dugan. Merrin could be considered at the moment one of the higher paid players in their cap but not at the money he will be on next year. So where is the rest of the money getting eaten up? Creagh/ Nightinggale? It's bizarre imo.

But that's all one-sided nonsense. St George were always the dominant team in the merger - from the day it was announced they were effectively the same Dragons but playing some of their games out of the Gong. While it was always going to be contentious with the hardcore Steelers fans, it's hard not to come to the conclusion that it was a conscious move to ensure that they retained their identity. I have plenty of recent merchandise which proudly proclaims Dragons since 1921 - it's not a printing error - the 'merger' was between an 80 year old club that had won more Grand Finals than any other and an 18 year old club that made the finals once. Their identity is as probably the most storied club in the comp, with half the immortals wearing a big red V. Selling themselves out to the highest stadium? If they kept all games at Kogarah and the Gong, considering the high costs of these venues and the diminishing returns from leagues clubs (for all clubs), they would go broke. They keep some games at these venues despite the financial penalties. As a Dragons tragic I love the sacred turf of Jubilee oval but they'd actually be better off just playing out of ANZ with a handful of games at the Gong for the faithful down there. The costs are lower and the crowds are higher at ANZ.

The problem with the Dragons is Peter Doust. From mismanaging the salary cap to a poverty-stricken bottom line, he has poorly managed the club. The last two coaches he has appointed (Price, McGregor) reflects this. Both are cheap inexperience options. Doust has being CEO since around the year 2000. Time for some new blood.

I have to say as the Dragons supporter, that I was looking forward to a better start to the season. Partially the poor start to the season is down to poor coaching decisions. Macgregor has insisted on keeping Nielsen/Farrell in the centres when there were clearly better attacking and defensive centres in the club in the form of Mata'utai and Runciman and now having given Aitken his chance has still retained Farrell. The Dragons have an exciting winger in Nabuli who is not seeing much ball on the wing and Dugan at fullback has failed to perform this year so why not put Dugan in the centres in place of Farrell and bring in Mata'utai/Hunt at fullback who can interchange with Nabuli and we can see who makes the best fullback. In the forwards too McGregor seems to be limiting the amount of time that O'Brien has had on the field and seems rather fixated at having Marketo on the bench rather than giving some of the NSW Cup forwards their chance. Widdop has also been very quiet this year and needs to start doing something otherwise I would suggest we could try Crook or L'Estrange in his position.

Dragons are a farce up their with the Tigers, they are neither here nor there when it comes to a club identity and it's not surprise that they are sinking without their fans. The St George side has become the dominant factor of the merger to the detriment of the Wollongong community and now Illawara are stuck with supporting what is essentially another a sydney team. I'm sure they are stoked about that. But the best bit of all this is that the dragons have managed to screw up their strong Sydney base as well by selling themselves out to the highest bidding stadium, resulting in "home fixtures" being played all over town from Kograh to the SFS and Homebush. Why would anyone want to go about and support this club in poor times when that club can't even commit to its local community? The dragons are just another bit of fallout from the super league war that Rugby League failed to deal with appropriately.