Superstition says the Dragons will win the comp in 2021

St George Illawarra fans, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is Saints are going to win the comp.

The bad news is, it probably won’t happen until 2021. This is due to a bunch of weird coincidences with the number eleven.

Everyone knows about St George’s eleven premierships in the 1950s and 60s. They beat Balmain in the 1956 grand final and by the time they beat them again in ’66, the Dragons had won eleven in a row. In those grand finals they knocked off Wests four times, Balmain three times, Manly twice, plus Souths and Easts once.

In those days, St George were almost unbeatable. They had future immortals Reg Gasnier, Johnny Raper, and Graeme Langlands, along with greats like Norm Provan and Kevin Ryan. They were so good they even took on the international touring teams from England and New Zealand. The 1959 Dragons side was perhaps their best. That was when Raper and Gasnier joined, and they didn’t lose a game all year.

They were great days for St George fans, when they felt they couldn’t lose. It must have been like being a Queenslander after 2006! But spare a thought for the poor buggers who grew up supporting Saints after that era, because there were tough times ahead. Here’s where the weird coincidences with the number eleven kick in.

After St George’s eleven-year run ended in 1966, there was an eleven-year drought before they won their next title in 1977, led by Craig Young wearing the number 11 jersey. That’s not much of a drought if you support the Eels or the Warriors, but it would have felt like forever for Dragons fans spoiled by success. For every year they’d won the comp, they spent a year in purgatory.

(AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)

If Saints were now under the spell of eleven, they must have won it again in 1988, right? Well, no, but they did win the mid-week knockout comp for the only time in their history. As for the premiership, I’d like to say they finished eleventh, but they actually came tenth. Close enough.

Fast forward another eleven years and Saints should definitely have won it this time. But with the help of an Anthony Mundine fumble and a last minute penalty try, Melbourne Storm overcame a 14-0 deficit to win the 1999 grand final. It was a sporting nightmare and Saints must still be trying to work out how they lost. This time the Curse of Eleven went against them. The one consolation was that with a team as good as theirs, they’d be sure to win one in the next couple of years.

Wrong. Despite star players Mundine, Trent Barrett, Paul McGregor, and Mark Gasnier, St George fans had to go through another stint in purgatory for – you guessed it – eleven more years before they finally got redemption in the 2010 grand final win over the Roosters.

So back to the future and if the Dragons win the comp this year, they’ll have broken the pattern. But if the curse continues, they’ll have to wait another three years until 2021 for their next title.

Now before St George fans start cursing at ME, obviously I’m only joking.

Besides, I left out the fact Saints won the comp in 1979. Hey, why ruin a good story? But apart from that year, the ‘Curse of Eleven’ stands, and it does make for a good yarn.

That’s exactly why I wrote a freaky Twilight Zone type story called ‘Eleven’ about a St George fan haunted by the past.

The full story was too long to go on The Roar, but it’s on my own website. There aren’t many fictional stories about rugby league, but this one takes a look inside the mind of an obsessed sports fan, as well as touching on the unique history of St George.

I am a writer and the story comes from my new ebook called The Tightarse Tuesday Book Club. Details on that here. If you like it, pass it on.