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This is the ninth article in the series with which I’m paying tribute to the pioneers of each of the 11 surviving clubs who entered the league since I began following the game back in the 1960s and tell you a little about who they were and where they came from.
Today, the first merger: the St George Illawarra Dragons.
The St George Illawarra Dragons were formed at the close of the 1998 NRL season following a merger between the St George Dragons (founded in 1921) and the Illawarra Steelers (founded in 1982). St George were a financially successful club, but changing demographics in their area meant that both their fan base and their junior talent pool were shrinking. Illawarra had a rich mine of local talent but were facing financial ruin and battling for survival.
It was the game’s first-ever joint venture as rationalisation towards the 14-team competition of 2000 gained momentum. The deal was seen as mutually beneficial for both clubs, as their survival, at least in merged form, could be assured for the foreseeable future.
There’s no doubt that St George got the better end of the merger stick, keeping the ‘Dragons’ name and the famous Red V jersey, but the famous old club and its history and considerable achievements were gone.
With substantial financial incentives and the relaxing of salary cap requirements, the 1999 St George Illawarra Dragons were always going to field a formidable team.
Here’s the team that took the field in the joint venture’s very first game on 6 March 1999, which was also the very first game held at Stadium Australia, the new venue for the 2000 Olympics. Over 104,000 fans were on hand that day to see St George Illawarra go down 20-10 against the Parramatta Eels.
Numbers in brackets are the total first-grade games the player played for St George-Illawarra.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
1. Lee Murphy (20)
A Dragons junior, Murphy played every game for St George at either fullback or wing in the year before the merger, but after playing in the inaugural game he lost his place in the side to Luke Patten. He played only six games in first grade that year, primarily off the bench, but bounced back the following season to play 14 games at either centre or wing. He joined Wests Tigers in 2001 and retired at the end of that season.
2. Nathan Blacklock (114)
Blacklock made his first-grade debut off the bench as a 19-year-old with the Roosters in 1995 and, in a sign of things to come, promptly scored a try. He joined St George in 1997, playing just one game, but really found his feet the following season, crossing for 20 tries in 22 games. He continued to excel at the joint venture club, crossing for 24, 25 and 27 tries in each of the next three seasons using his blistering pace and uncanny anticipation. He played two Tests for Australia in 2001, notching another couple of tries along the way. He was granted a release to play rugby union in mid-2002 and played five games for the Waratahs before returning to St George Illawarra in 2003. He left the club at the end of the 2004 season to finish his career in England.
3. Paul McGregor (34)
McGregor came across to the Dragons after eight seasons with the Steelers, 14 Origins for NSW and three Test matches for Australia and was one of the most experienced players in the game. He captained the team in the 1999 grand final, spent the following season out of the game with injury and then retired at the end of 2001.
4. Mark Coyne (captain) (15)
Coyne was the Dragons captain prior to the merger and continued in that role in 1999, forming a very experienced centre pairing with Paul McGregor. By the time of the merger he’d had ten years with St George, played 19 Origins for Queensland and nine Tests for Australia. Injuries unfortunately kept him out of the 1999 grand final, and he retired at the end of that year.
5. Jamie Ainscough (69)
Ainscough had seven years in the top grade and had won both New South Wales and Australian jerseys before joining St George in 1997, and he then stayed on with the merged club in 1999. He had three years with St George Illawarra and will be most remembered for making that tackle on Melbourne’s Craig Smith resulting in the penalty try that gave Melbourne grand final victory in 1999. He left the club at the end of 2001 and finished his career in England, winning a Challenge Cup final with Wigan in 2002.
6. Anthony Mundine (33)
Mundine had five years with St George and a single season with Brisbane when he became part of the merger in 1999, and he only had to pass the ball to one of the two unmarked players outside him to see St George Illawarra win a premiership in their first season. His expanding ego saw him leave the club and the game partway through the 2000 season.
7. Trent Barrett (154)
Barrett was one of the Illawarra Steelers’ best players and a NSW and Australian representative when he joined the merger, and he went on to have a stellar career with the club, winning the Dally M Medal in 2000. He left St George Illawarra at the end of the 2006 season to join Wigan in the ESL.
8. Craig Smith (52)
Smith was one of the rare breed to represent both Queensland in State of Origin and play Tests for the Kiwis in his career, and he had three years with Illawarra before joining the merger. He left St George Illawarra for the ESL at the end of the 2001 season after falling foul of the judiciary on a number of occasions.
9. Nathan Brown (51)
Originally from Mclean in northern New South Wales, Brown made his first-grade debut with the St George Dragons in 1993 and stayed on when the club merged with Illawarra. Injuries saw him retire from the game at the end of 2000, but he was back as the Saints first-grade coach just three years later at the tender age of 29.
Nathan Brown (Tony Feder/Getty Images)
10. Corey Pearson (34)
Pearson debuted for Balmain in 1995, found his way to St George two years later and stayed on for the merger. He left for the Wests Tigers in 2001.
11. Darren Treacy (66)
Darren Treacy came to the joint venture team via Newcastle and St George and had three strong seasons with the club before heading to the UK in 2002.
12. Lance Thompson (132)
Thompson debuted with the St George Dragons as a 17-year-old in 1995 and was a stalwart of the joint venture club for seven seasons before heading to Cronulla in 2006. He scored the first-ever try for St George Illawarra.
13. Wayne Bartrim (72)
After stints with both the Gold Coast and the St George Dragons, Bartrim had represented both Queensland and Australia by the time the joint venture got underway. A versatile player equally at home in either the back row or at hooker, he was the club’s top point scorer in 1999.
14. Shaun Timmins (124)
Timmins debuted for the Steelers as a 17-year-old and had five years with them before becoming part of the merger. Proficient at centre, five-eighth, lock or second row, his career really kicked on with St George Illawarra, and he went on to play nine games for NSW and nine Tests for Australia before injuries got the better of him, forcing his retirement at the end of the 2006 season.
15. Colin Ward (53)
Colin Ward was a very good front rower who came to the St George Dragons after stints with both the Roosters and Gold Coast and then spent three seasons with the joint venture club before finishing his career with Penrith in 2002 and 2003.
16. Brad Mackay (23)
One of the best players to have played the game, Mackay had played every position except front row and wing in his career, which began as an 18-year-old with the St George Dragons in 1987. Nearly 200 first-grade games, 17 Origin appearances, 12 Tests, and a Clive Churchill Medal later, he was part of the Illawarra contingent that joined the joint venture for what would be his final season in Australia. He headed to England in 2000 and won a Challenge Cup with the Bradford Bulls.
Brad MacKay (Photo by Getty Images)
17. Craig Fitzgibbon (15)
If Brad Mackay was near the end of his career, then Craig Fitzgibbon’s career was just beginning. He debuted for Illawarra in 1998, found himself with the joint venture a year later and then joined the Roosters in 2000. His career blossomed, and he went on to play over 300 first-grade games, 11 State of Origins for NSW and 19 Tests for the Kangaroos.
Coach: David Waite (48)
Waite was named Dally M coach of the year in 1996 after taking the St George Dragons as far as the grand final against Manly, and he was preferred over Illawarra coach Andrew Farrar when the joint venture got underway. He took St George Illawarra to the grand final in 1999, but 2000 saw them drop out of the finals altogether, and he was replaced by co-coach Farrar the following season.
Just 25 players represented St George Illawarra in first grade that year, and some of the better known players from 1999 who were not in that first run-on side are below.
Chris Leikvoll (91)
The front-row giant was another to join from the Illawarra club, and he was a solid performer over the next five seasons before he left in 2004 to finish his career with Warrington in the ESL.
Luke Patten (44)
The classy fullback debuted with the Steelers in 1998, and although he missed the joint venture’s opening game, he played nearly every other game in 1999 to be one of the club’s best. Somehow they let him move to the Bulldogs in 2001, where he went on to prove himself one of the best fullbacks in the game over the next ten years.
Rod Wishart (23)
The Illawarra great was one of the best wingers going around in the 1990s but was nearing the end of his career when the joint venture kicked off. A veteran of 22 State of Origins for NSW and 17 Tests, he retired from the game at the end of 1999.
The joint venture club got underway with a very strong squad able to pick the eyes out of both the St George Dragons and the Illawarra Steelers squads. They didn’t need to look elsewhere for talent and had plenty of experience and depth from day one. The season started slowly for them, losing three of their first four games, but they rallied to finish in sixth place and went within a penalty try of winning a premiership in their first season.
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