In August 2018 WIN Corporation purchased the Illawarra Steelers' 50% stake. "This is an exciting launching point for the next stage of the Dragons. One game a piece, the two sides met up in Brisbane in the finals, where they lost to the Broncos 2410, thus ending the Dragons season and also that of Wendell Sailor's career. Much will depend on the make up of the new SGI Board; our future is in their hands so it would be nice to know who they are and a bit about their background. St George's four directors will be Craig Young, a former premiership captain; Peter Black, who has been a board member since the mid-1980s; Ralph Piggott, another long-term director who will be chairman of the St George Leagues Club, replacing Johnston - who will also sit on the joint-venture board as CEO. St. George Illawarra annually contests the Club ANZAC Game against the Sydney Roosters, a tradition dating back to the 1970s, and contested annually since 2002. The St George Illawarra Dragons have terminated the contract of prop Paul Vaughan for his breach of NRL biosecurity guidelines, and handed out more fines to the 12 teammates he hosted at his house on the weekend. There were many controversial matches between St. George Illawarra and Parramatta. AU . Getty Images. Take a look at the amazing evening from behind the camera lens. We have worked closely with Peter Newell, Bob Millward and Sean O'Connor in particular throughout that time," Gordon said. While Illawarra and Dragons supporters will see no change to the club, the new affiliation is expected to strengthen its corporate structure as it reshapes the business away from the traditional club-funded model. His board roles have included SP Telemedia, Crawford Productions,Mildura Digital Television, Western Digital Television, Broadcast Transmission Services and MediaHub. In 2002 when the match was first held, the Sydney Football Stadium was, at the time, one of the Dragons' main home grounds, whilst in 2008 the match was played at ANZ Stadium, a very unpopular move amongst supporters. . . In the 1999 Grand Final, the club were leading by 140 at the break in front of a world record crowd of 107,999. [22], On 5 July 2021, the NRL handed out a total of $305,000 in fines to 13 players of the club after they attended Paul Vaughan's property for a party in the midst of Covid-19 restrictions which were in breach of the code's bio security protocols. The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club overcame a poor first half performance to pull a thrilling victory out of the hat. The St George Illawarra Dragons have appointed Anthony Griffin as their new head coach following the departure of Paul McGregor last month. The strategic intent was to replicate the success of the annual game played against Sydney Roosters on ANZAC day. As a result, St. George Illawarra won the minor premiership for the 2009 and Wayne Bennett's first season at the club, but the team was eliminated from the finals after losing both their finals matches, therefore becoming the first minor premiers since 1993. This was followed by a form slump, with a record five consecutive losses, only to return to form with a victory over the Wests Tigers, and continue this positive form leading into the finals. These are extenuations of such rivalries the Illawarra Steelers held with each side due to the Steelers' (side of the Joint Venture) locality in the NSW City of Wollongong. This formalised the strong support the network has shown for the Steelers in years gone by and ensured that Wollongong continued to host world class rugby league matches. [26], 12 (1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2018). St. George Illawarra finished the season 10th. The full-time siren sounded in the 80th minute, prior to a Melbourne player in possession being tackled. The team colours of the St. George Illawarra Dragons are red and white, colours shared by both the St. George Dragons and Illawarra Steelers. Despite their poor season, Trent Barrett was awarded with the Dally M Medal. St. George Illawarra finished the 2022 NRL season in 10th place and missed the finals. [53], In June 2018, Sam Bremner, Kezie Apps and Talesha Quinn were unveiled as the club's first three signings. SPONSORED. Connect to CRM . Also, Illawarra had produced some memorable performances against Brisbane, including the infamous 1989 Panasonic Cup Final (which Brisbane won) and the 1992 Tooheys Challenge Cup Final (won by Illawarra). A less memorable match saw no points scored between the two teams in Round 13 2006 in the first 70 minutes of play before Parramatta slotted a field goal with nine minutes remaining, before the Dragons struck back with two one-pointers to take a 2-1 lead. Star five-eighth Gareth Widdop joined the club for 2014, but by late May 2014, just after the star signing of Benji Marshall, the board sacked Price as coach due to some embarrassing defeats to start the season. South Sydney have won the most premierships with 21, the Sydney Roosters next on 15 premierships. It was announced in March 2011 that Bennett would leave St. George Illawarra after the 2011 NRL season, signing a four-year deal with the Newcastle Knights from the 2012 season onwards. The sale fetched $2.6million.[29]. "Importantly, all parties share a commitment to ensuring local juniors have the opportunity to represent our district at the highest level. In 2020 NRL season on the 14/6/2020, St. George Illawarra played there last games under former coach Paul McGregor (rugby league), at CommBank Stadium. [10] These signings and a successful season culminated in the club returning to the finals in 2018 and enjoyed a successful year. Michael became a Governor of St.George Foundation in March 2020. [2] The team has its headquarters and leagues clubs in both Wollongong and the Sydney suburb of Kogarah, and trains and plays games regularly at WIN Stadium in Wollongong, as well as at Jubilee Oval in Kogarah. The season started with four wins from the first five games, however over the next 19 games, the club only obtained another four victories, with the club losing eight matches in a row to close out the season after the infamous barbeque. The St George Illawarra Dragons wore their away jersey in 2018 in their match against the Knights at WIN Stadium; given the greater amount of red on the jersey, it brought back that traditional rivalry. An extended trip to Australia saw Wellens' side clash with NRL side St George Illawarra Dragons in preparation to their World Club clash; Saints coming out on top with a 30-18 result against a young Dragons side. "Today's announcement underlines the close association between WIN, the Gordon family and the Steelers as an iconic Wollongong name now joins another iconic name in St George, in presenting the greatest game of all at home and away," Newell said. 2004 saw the final season of the try scoring talent Nathan Blacklock. Key points: The Dragons conceded four tries in the 22-point defeat Jake Averillo scored two tries for the Bulldogs The Dragons are still in eighth place despite the loss In the 2009 NRL Finals Series, St. George Illawarra finished as the Minor Premiership and faced the Parramatta Eels who finished 8th on the ladder, A week earlier at the same venue, St. George Illawarra had defeated Parramatta 37-0 but in the finals game, Parramatta won 25-12 with Parramatta player Jarryd Hayne scoring a brilliant solo try. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/ingons-for-a-bright-future-20180820-p4zykk.html, https://forums.leagueunlimited.com/threads/sgi-board-members.473208/, Flash Gordon: WIN strikes deal for stake in Dragons on eve of finals, 2023 R1 Thu - Parramatta v Melbourne @ CommBank. The St. George Dragons largely financed a proposal for a joint venture which would see the St George Illawarra Dragons playing in both Kogarah and Wollongong. Australian professional rugby league club, based in Wollongong & Kogarah, NSW, David Waite and Andrew Farrar (19992002), Steve Price and Paul McGregor (2012 2020), List of St. George Illawarra Dragons seasons, List of St. George Illawarra Dragons coaches, List of St. George Illawarra Dragons records, "Saints face test with nerves of Steelers", "Wigan prepare to slay Dragons after crushing St Helens in Grand Final", "NRL predicts more teams to seek $4m merger bonus", "Dragons v Bulldogs NRL: 2017 finals series, Will Hopoate stats", "St George Illawarra Dragons captain Gareth Widdop labels 2017 season a "failure", "Graham giving Dragons pack extra beef and belief", "Brisbane halfback Ben Hunt accepts St George Illawarra's lengthy multi-million dollar deal offer", "Sims stars as battered Dragons upset Broncos", "NRL finals: South Sydney Rabbitohs pip St George Illawarra Dragons with late field", "Cleeland Steers Bulldogs To Grand Final After Two Years Of Heartbreak", "What the changes mean for St George Illawarra", "Why McGregor's the man to lead Red V to glory", "De Belin proclaims innocence after being stood down", "ARL Commission announces 'no-fault stand down policy' for players facing serious charges", "Paul McGregor facing the axe as St George Illawarra Dragons coach following horror season", "NRL 2020 Season Review: How will your side fare next season? It was the club's first NRL Grand Final appearance as a joint-venture and Melbourne's first Grand Final appearance in just its second year in existence. I have sent the club a couple of emails but no response yet. St. George Illawarra narrowly missed out on a Finals spot, finishing up in 9th position. Essentially, St George would provide the money while Illawarra would provide a broader junior and fan base. Fans of both clubs were outraged, and the attempt aborted. The club also claimed its first World Club Challenge Championship, defeating Wigan Warriors 2115 at DW Stadium. St. George Illawarra has a fierce rivalry with neighbor the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. Can anyone point me towards information about the board and governance - e.g. With under ten minutes to play, St George Illawarra were ahead on the scoreboard before two quick tries gave Canterbury a 2620 victory. The allocation of board members, WIN will appoint three board members, St George two, and Illawarra one. Darius Boyd won a premiership with Bennett and the Brisbane Broncos in 2006, won the Clive Churchill Medal for best on ground in the match. "Today is a momentous day in the history of the St George Illawarra Dragons as we welcome WIN as a partner in our club," Johnston said. Round 23, 2005: In a potential Grand Final preview, scores were locked at 00 for the majority of the first half before the Dragons broke away in the second half to record a 244 win and instigate Brisbane's then-traditional late-season poor form. St. George Illawarra is one of only two clubs (the other being the Sydney Roosters in 1908) to finish runner-up in its inaugural season. Brian Johnston The St. George Illawarra Dragons and Parramatta Eels rivalry stretched back to 1977 when the St. George Dragons and Parramatta played out the first ever drawn Grand Final result. The Saints showed a lot of emotion as they won 14-12 unexpectedly against the Parramatta Eels.