What is your favourite-ever season for the Dragons and why?

[st penguin]

Prompted to put this thread up by mention of the 1996 Season in the Rev V Jersey Thread, which some couldn’t really recall that well. I'm back on LU after a long time away so apologies in advance if something similar has been put up..

For me, 1996 was the most impressive, astonishing, and my favourite ever season for the Dragons I’ve witnessed. Many know we made the GF and lost to Manly 20-8, but it’s the season-backstory that still makes me well with Dragon pride. The fact we even got to the Grand Final was extraordinary.

What’s your favourite and why? Keen to hear your stories…

Here’s my rundown as to why 1996 is mine. Happy for my memory to be corrected on any of the below by history buffs out there.

• 1995 and the beginning of 1996 was the "start" of the Superleague Schism.
• We lost our Coach - Rod Reddy – who abandoned the Dragons for Superleague (the Rams-to-be franchise)
• We lost our Major Sponsor - Akubra from memory?
• David Waite stepped in to coach us.
• Many Dragons SL signees stood down from playing in the early season games, Waite literally had to scramble whatever side together he could..
• Newmans Stepped in to Sponsor us (Newmans of Kogarah down Rocky Point Road! - who remembers hearing that song booming around Jubilee Oval at half-time as a bunch of Magnas & Colts drove slowly around the perimeter)
• We eventually got some SL Players back – but minus Gorden Tallis who stood down all season.
• After Round 12 we'd won 4, lost 7 (including 5 in a row between Rounds 6-10), and had a bye.
• At that stage we were 13th on the ladder.

And then….

• From our final 10 games we had 8 wins, a draw and 1 loss
• We finish 7th on the ladder
• In the semi finals we beat the Raiders, then the Roosters, then the Bears
• We face Manly in the Grand Final – who finished first in the regular season with only 4 losses all year.
• We lost 20-8 in the decider..

1996 for me was the gutsiest Dragons side I’d ever seen. Google search that year and look up our squad for a blast from the past..

I remember the '96GF well, watching it at Saints Leagues. The place was heaving. We were always going to be up against it facing that Manly side but we battled really hard in the first half and were right in the contest..

However then “that call” was made by Referee David Manson just before half-time. Rather than called held by the ref, Matthew Ridge gets up after being brought down by Nathan Brown and carries on up the field another 20 or so metres to a backpedalling Dragons defence who thought it a blatant tackle.. Manly then Score in the next tackle or two which then gave them momentum into half-time, leading 14-2. The Dragons fans in the club let out a mushroom cloud of anger at that call – me included.

While I’m not at all saying we’d have won the game if the call had gone the other way, it definitely took the opportunity away from us. No-one would have beaten that Manly side from 12 points down.

Who scored our try that day? None other than Nick Zisti! Wayne Bartrim two goals.

The other two things I remember about the 1996 GF..

When the Dragons ran out on the field at the start and during the Anthems, I spotted Anthony Mundine with tears running down his cheeks – so welled-up with pride and emotion, it meant so much to him to play for the Dragons in the decider (anyone remember him grabbing the emblem after his try against the bears in the semi..). I know he’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I always remember him for that moment and will always be a Mundine fan for it.

Secondly is actually through the eyes of one of my mates, a huge Dragons fan who was at the game.. He’ll always claim…

“on a quiet day at the SFS, if you head to the southern-end seats and listen closely, you can hear the faint cry of “HEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLDDD!!!!!!!” still echoing from my lungs in the 38th minute of that game..”

Yes we’ve won comps in different years which will always be well regarded (I was a pup in 77 & 79 and don't remember much, and of course 2010 stands right out), but for the sheer feat of 1996 – it’s my favourite.

Yeah I watched the 96 GF at the Taj Mahal. Great atmosphere.

It was partly the reason I went back there to watch the 2010 GF.

Maybe it's a sign of the times, but there was about half the number of people (maybe because tickets are so much easier to get hold of now)

There's something special about watching the GF at the leagues club. I will always remember one guy talking out loud to no one in particular with about 20 minutes to go. "It's happening! It's happening! It's finally going to happen!"

Kinda gives me goosebumps to remember it.

 

[SaintPauli]

3 seasons came to my mind,

1985 and we were minor premiers in all three grades and then in GF in all 3. Very special.

99 lucky enough to be there. Sat behind try line grandstand. Birds eye view but part of a rugby league world record crowd. Also the fighter jet close over fly bye was special and of course legend Nathan Blacklocks superb try.

Also at 2010 GF and sat near chook pen. How sweet it was. A WIN!
Thankyou Mr Bennett Thankyou team.

 

[Frank Facer]

My favourite ever season, would have been 1985. I was in year 8 at school. We were minor premiers in all 3 grades. We were the best team all year until getting beat 7-6 in the grand final. We won under 23's and reserve grade grand finals. I attended around 3 quarters of the games that year, including traveling to Canberra and Woolongong. My mate and I had flags and we used to sit with the other hardcore Saints fans with the flags. We had so many chants and songs. We had the best group of supporters in the comp. We would get to games and there were so many familiar faces surrounding us every game. We knew many by their first names. The nights before the games we used to cut up white pages into little rectangles to throw up in the air when we scored to create the confetti look with the flags waving at the same time. It used to look great on TV. Add streamers and cash register rolls to the visual effects too. I used to say that our fans were the closest there were to English soccer fans. If we kicked a penalty goal early in the game, we used to chant 2 nil, 2 nil, 2 nil 2 nil, then followed by Liverpool, Liverpool, Liverpool. My mate and I were both Liverpool fans too. Liverpool won the FA cup that year, with Australian Craig Johnson scoring a goal and Ian Rush scoring multiple times. We used to get games during the under 23's. I used to get into all games for free, with a footy pass for playing for our school side. I have never got over losing the 85 grand final. If we had won that game, I would have been the best day of my life. My mate lived at Earlwood and his parents used to drive us to Kogarah, Liechhardt, Belmore (that was Canterbury's and Parra's home ground at the time too), Redfern, The SCG, The Sydney Sports Ground, now it is the SFS. We used to catch trains to other grounds or my mates mum would even drive up to grounds such a Penrith. The game against Balmain that year at Leichhardt that year was great, we won in front of a packed house. There were spectators sitting on top of the toilet blocks and all. I doubt if they ever packed more people into Leichhardt oval. Balmain's halfback Scott Gale stopped me on the way in and asked him to take a picture of him and his girlfriend.

The grand final day was the best day I ever had at the footy, until we lost. I could write a very long story about that day. I had a lump in my throat and watery eyes and was fighting back tears after we lost. My mates dad drove us to the ground at 5 am. I was in the Driver avenue line. Many of the other hard core Saints fans had slept overnight and were in the same line. We were chanting and singing before they even opened the gates. We had a mad fruit fight that the cops had to come and break up, before the gates were opened. Red almost got taken away by the police. We got a spot right at the front that had no signage so we could hang our massive flags over the front of the fence. After the game there was a special photo shoot taken in front of us with JJ Giltinan Shield or the Winfield Cup and the Canterbury players. My mates were saying look they are taking pictures, but I was too shattered to look at it. The next year there was a poster at my former primary school of the final series, with a collage pictures from the final series. The picture that they took after the game with myself and my mates in the background was included on the poster. My sister got the poster for me and I had it up on my wall for many years. Eventually I took it down and gave it to one of my mates who was also in the photo, as I didn't think it was a good idea to have a picture of myself of one of the saddest moments of my life. After telling many of my mates about our grand final experience, the next year we had a group of about 25 of us from my local suburb that went to the grand final together.

2010 was the best season, because we won the comp that year.

1984 was a good season, I was shattered when we got beat by Parra in the preliminary final, lump in the throat again that year after we got beat. Footy and Saints isn't just a game to me. Most others don't understand, but I think there would be a few on this forum who do understand my sentiments. I thought we would have beat Canterbury in the 84 Grand Final if we got there that year.

92 was good, as it was the first year since 85, that we made the finals again. I thought we overachieved that year, when when making the grand final.

93 was a good year. I went into that grand final with more hope than in 92.

96 was a good year when you put things into perspective. We weren't supposed to get near the grand final. I remember Mundine's great form at the end of that season and was shattered that he was going to Brisbane the next year.

99 was another good year with an unhappy ending. I still have not seen another penalty try awarded for a high tackle and can't remember ever seeing one before that either.

2004, 05 and 06 were all good years. I thought we should have won the comp each of those years too. I was totally shattered when we got knocked out of the finals those years. I was going for very big collects if we won the comp those years too. I was probably more shattered when getting knocked out those years, than losing the 92, 93, 96 and 99 grand finals. I remember not even being able to watch another game those years after we got knocked out of the finals. To me the footy season is over once we are not in contention. I really can't stand watching other teams celebrate winning the Grand Finals.

 

[Life's Good]

2010 from a sheer relief point of view. We were the best side from when Bennett arrived and it simply delivered what should have happened in 2009. In taking the start of 2011 it represented a time when we were the competition heavyweight/benchmark with the game to back it up. Friday night games were great because I would back up for brekky on Saturday with my Dragon mates & we would recall Sowards kicking game, Creaghs angle running & the sublime finishing of Bmoz.

Having said that for pure emotional enjoyment I can’t go past 1996. Preseason looked shaky with Reddy walking, Tallis sitting out & the team seemingly disjointed until David Waite came along. What a man. Brought the team together which culminated in the run into the semis. The mousetrap vs. Canberra, blowing away the more fancied Roosters & Mark Bell running the length of the field to take the GF qualifier away from Norths.
The GF was devastating because we were holding our own against a gun Manly side & then Manson decides to have a brain fade & let Ridge play on. In that 4 week period I was without a voice for at least 3 days after each game. What a ride.

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

3 seasons came to my mind,

1985 and we were minor premiers in all three grades and then in GF in all 3. Very special.

99 lucky enough to be there. Sat behind try line grandstand. Birds eye view but part of a rugby league world record crowd. Also the fighter jet close over fly bye was special and of course legend Nathan Blacklocks superb try.

Also at 2010 GF and sat near chook pen. How sweet it was. A WIN!
Thankyou Mr Bennett Thankyou team.

Great stuff.

I was also at the 99GF about 5 rows from the very back/top of the southern stand. Remember that Jet doing its final pass from behind us and the all the fans near me almost shat themselves at the noise. Was a unique view of a league game too. Blacklocks Try was amazing. But for me and like @Frank Facer I've found many of our GF losses devastating. Although 92 and 96 we played out of our skins to get there.

85 all three Grades, unfathomable these days.

Indeed - Thank You Mr Bennett, Thank you team. great words.

 

[Gareth67]

What a great thread , so many wonderful accounts of our best title wins and with those lovely personal memories , one could almost put themselves there at the game regardless of what year it may had been . Keep them coming gents and don't forget that there will be many more great years ahead .

 

[Saintsified]

We didn’t win in 1996, but boy was that a great ride. A bits and pieces team, but brilliantly coached.

And in typical St George fashion of later years, we f**ked David Waite over few seasons later. Still can't believe it. Andrew Farrar over Waite? f**k me Steelers got involved with decision making and we have been shit ever since.. Except the Bennett years

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

Mr Angry and his family had a frightening experience and unfortunately people of all persuasions sat back and let it happen.
However it doesn’t mean that all Saints supporters are morons and dick heads and hopefully he will come to realise that and not tar everyone with the same brush.
Now I can see some dick head posts where people take umbridge at him doing that and then immediately do the same thing by lumping him in with the race riot idiots.
Wake up to yourselves and at least show him whilst we don’t agree with his dislike
of us we at least comprehend the nightmare he and his family endured.

While I agree with most of the sentiment written here, Mr Angry has had close to 20-years understanding that not all Saints fans are dickheads.

1999 wasn't exactly yesterday.

Despite the passage of time, the inference is pretty clear.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

And in typical St George fashion of later years, we f**ked David Waite over few seasons later. Still can't believe it. Andrew Farrar over Waite? f**k me Steelers got involved with decision making and we have been shit ever since.. Except the Bennett years

Brown was extremely unlucky.

Not only was he thrown into the coaching role far too early, if it weren't for a couple of blokes named Mander and Clark, there's every chance he could've been a dual premiership winning coach already.

I agree that SGI was "shit" under Farrar (who Saints' fans have never forgave after the '85 grand final), and Price (although he was unfortunate to have followed Bennett). McGregor has just risen the bar of 'shitiness' (sic) to a brand level.