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So...What Is Our 'Culture"?

AJB1102

First Grade
Messages
6,339
Just think for a minute about the most successful products in the world. Coca-cola, Kelloggs Cornflakes, Mars Bars, Big Mac ..etc. How successful would they be if everytime you went to the shop the packaging was different?? For the benefit of our marketing department its a thing called 'building brand awareness'. The whole idea is that it creates an emotional connection in the minds of the consumer.

As far as Saints go, f**k em.

But this is a point that should be beaten into every club. I'm surprised a Saints fan is complaining about it, you guys are one of the better ones, up with Chooks and Bunnies. My lot wore piss yellow once and the Knights dress up as the Tigers every year (usually against the Tigers just to f**k with everyone).
 

Bayside Dragon

Juniors
Messages
64
So welcome to the forum.

To answer your question, you just have to shift the parentheses off culture and move them to the beginning. Therefore your answer is:

"So what" is our culture.

This appears to be what we stand for currently, the don't care, give a toss approach, especially to our history and what it means to wear the Red V.

Fortunately, there seems to be some positivity to cling onto moving forward, especially with Webb at the helm and a new coach who is clearing the weeds from the paddock which have taken root, particularly over the last 7 years or so.

What is our culture? that question is yet to be determined, yes we cling onto the past, which of course gives us our DNA, however, we must also strive forward and start to redevelop our club from within.

We need to be able to say, "why do you want to be at the Dragons and a member of this great club?" to wit the answer should be "it's the culture, history and progressive nature that's brought me here"

Wise thoughts, indeed. To me, how do we get to that position?
Considering we dont have a winning team for a while yet, and our front office and board are under-performers and back- slapping pisspots standing on two different sides of a room. Maybe I'm wrong, but if I, as a fan has that perception, pretty sure the rest of the league world believes it, too. Only 3 things about this club gives me any joy. The CEO, the new coach and the young kids getting their opportunities. The rest is just plain embarrassing and/or depressing.

If I was interviewing potential players I'd be sweeping the culture questions under the carpet at the moment. Focus on the money and wonderful seaside life style. The less they know about everything else, the better.
 

Forbes Creek Dragons

First Grade
Messages
5,078
Impressive first post Bayside Dragon and welcome to the Dragon forum . I liked the point about the / our iconic Big Red V brand . That was what got me in as a young fellow . I can still recall seeing it for the first time in the sixties against South Sydney and I thought just how impressive it was - somehow even overpowering compared to the darker red and green of the rabbitohs.

But back to the present , I for one would like to see the Red V as our only Jersey , but we do need to take the Illawarra side of the Joint Venture into consideration.

Besides that I believe that , most unfortunately the tele networks have their own ideas as to how they want the team’s appearing on the screens . By that I am referring to night against day colors that would look better when televised .

But you are certainly on the right track in as much as the Joint Venture should be doing a hell of a lot more to sell that iconic Dragon Big Red V and the history associated with it .
More so when one of the Joint Ventures partners is a media organization - makes one wonder what their balance sheet is like ?
In my opinion we have basically relocated. We are the Illawarra team. We keep our spiritual home, and jersey in which I agree should be our only but the players represent the Illawarra region for the most part. Many kids in the region have known only one team, the Dragons. I’m a St George supporter but Sydney is chockers with teams. A lot of the good young kids we have coming through are from the South Coast or are country boys that would prefer to live there than Sydney. St George has transcended the tiny district in which it was born. It is a brand like Man U or Liverpool. A brand that is essential to remember, honour and continue its history and traditions but proudly represent the NSW south coast region from St George down.
 

Bayside Dragon

Juniors
Messages
64
Been a fan since my father took me to my first game at less than two weeks old. I was born in 1963 Kogarah Hospital

Our culture -
Take your kids to the ground and watch the mighty ones
Count tackles behind the southern goal posts
Rain Hail or Shine go Jubilee Avenue
Boo Wally Lewis
Cheer Billy Smith's cover tackles
Scream at the kick from the side lines by Brad Mackay
Having Anthony and Nathan backflip in front of you after a try
Martin Offiah running down the hill sideline

Many many many many more memories ...

That is our culture

No better club, no better fans, no better home ground, no better players, no better jersey that is what the St George Illawarra Dragons mean to me and my family of die hards

Great memories you have. I remember all that too. However it occurs to me that your recollections are all over 10 years removed from where we are today. Our only GF winning team failed to rate a mention. Interesting.
 

Bayside Dragon

Juniors
Messages
64
In my opinion we have basically relocated. We are the Illawarra team. We keep our spiritual home, and jersey in which I agree should be our only but the players represent the Illawarra region for the most part. Many kids in the region have known only one team, the Dragons. I’m a St George supporter but Sydney is chockers with teams. A lot of the good young kids we have coming through are from the South Coast or are country boys that would prefer to live there than Sydney. St George has transcended the tiny district in which it was born. It is a brand like Man U or Liverpool. A brand that is essential to remember, honour and continue its history and traditions but proudly represent the NSW south coast region from St George down.

Seems like you have nailed the mentality that we need to go forward with. Are you sure you arent really Ryan Webb in disguise? Sort of thing that he's thinking.
 

Crush

Coach
Messages
10,410
The multiple jersey thing is not isolated to our club its the whole NRL and SGI do jerseys better than most.
I like the red strip and the red V.
I have no problem with them honouring both sides of the joint venture with the jerseys.
 

dungay dragon

Juniors
Messages
1,014
They have taken the culture of perennial losers like the Steelers
And f**kwits like muzby who follow the Steelers and still think the Steelers exist
What is our Culture..
Been saying it on here for years
We are ARROGANT and COMFORTABLE.....
Arrogant
That this playing group and coaching staff headed by McGregor firmly believed that we are better than we actually are..
Talk is cheap , but our actions and delivery have been pathetic..
Having been categorised by many as "having a soft under belly " hasnt bothered them either
COMFORTABLE
All have been well paid , most overs , and are /were a friendly group with very little pressure being put on them from the lower grades , and an assurance from their Coach that their jobs were safe regardless of performance..
NOW FINALLY there is some hope on the horizon..
New ceo and new coach who obviously aren't afraid to get out the big broom and start clearing out all the deadwood , allowing some of our promising juniors to start forcing their way through to NRL..
Can see more of the overpaid/over rated leaving during the off season after being read the riot act by Griffin over their lack of past performance
New signings are on the way , and along with directions to give our Juniors an opportunity in top grade , we will slowly rise out of the mire we are in
Griffin will get the attitude right..the rest will follow
 

hazzbeen

Bench
Messages
4,617
What's our culture , that's a hard one what's the culture of anyone anymore ? Everything has changed , life has changed , Rugby League has changed , its all about money , its not about being loyal anymore to your club ..... Coaches come and go bring pieces of culture (if thats what we want to call it )from teams they have been to and implementing them to their new club ..... So the culture thing is all gone , like the Storm , East , again call it culture if you want , will all be gone when new coaches eventually come in ...... At the Dragons we tried the give jobs to ex players , all in house culture and we can see how that went .... Wining structures , good coaching is what's needed forget how things were it will never be the same .....
 
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muzby

Village Idiot
Staff member
Messages
45,708
They have taken the culture of perennial losers like the Steelers
And f**kwits like muzby who follow the Steelers and still think the Steelers exist
Lol..

I grew up following the Steelers..

I now follow the JV..

Just because I’m not stupid enough to think that St George going it alone would work doesn’t mean I’m anti dragons..

It’s just that people like you are too closed minded to see that. You think that pro JV = StEeLeRz 4 LyF..

Overall it’s the weak minded in the club who choose to blame the other side..

We’re stronger together.

A smart organisation would leverage the history and the geographical advantage to become dominant..
 

hazzbeen

Bench
Messages
4,617
Lol..

I grew up following the Steelers..

I now follow the JV..

Just because I’m not stupid enough to think that St George going it alone would work doesn’t mean I’m anti dragons..

It’s just that people like you are too closed minded to see that. You think that pro JV = StEeLeRz 4 LyF..

Overall it’s the weak minded in the club who choose to blame the other side..

We’re stronger together.

A smart organisation would leverage the history and the geographical advantage to become dominant..
For me the board need to start working together , if we are to be a force .... Not its Illawarra's turn to run the board , then its St George's turn ..... As you say they all need to come together ......
 

JohnnoMcJohnno

Juniors
Messages
2,359
Culture. No idea what Phil Gould means by that.

The Big Red Vee is a great jumper, but it shouldn't matter what the players are wearing, they should be playing with pride and intent and striving for excellence regardless. For what it's worth, this is what I have observed that differentiates us from other clubs over the years, good and bad.

1. We were the first club that embraced Fijian players back in the late 60's with the Toga brothers. Everyone is doing that now but we were first.
2. We support our players through injury, even though it has been to our detriment at times (eg Dan Hunt, Kyle Stanley)
3. We (generally) strive to develop and use juniors, rather than buy ourselves a team. This was a lot more evident when Nathan Brown was coach rather than subsequently.
4. We are loyal and faithful to ex players (if they are considered good blokes) to the point where we are prepared to give them jobs they are unqualified to do.
5. We try and rehabilitate players, (like Russell Packer) even though it has been to our detriment at times
6. We are one of the few clubs to really support and get behind a women's league.

There's other stuff like community engagement and social work, but I'm pretty sure all clubs do that.

How much of the above is culture, how much of that you want to keep, and what other things you should add, well that's for the Board to figure out
 

Old Timer

Coach
Messages
16,914
Welcome Bayside Dragon and thanks for the most interesting of threads.

IMO I don't believe we actually have a culture as I firmly believe we are a neither nor club which is what also badly affects the Wests Tigers and sees them in a precarious position very much like ourselves.

I believe we had a chance of building a culture but the stupidity of sacking David Waite and the appointment of Farrar and subsequent woeful appointments other than Bennett ensured that we never found it.

In fact I would go so far as to say that if we won in 99 and Waite had have had a long tenure things would have been far different for our club and supporter base and perhaps we could have been the super club that was original intent.

Unfortunately after Waite there was a lot of dogs pissing on trees and the short break with Bennett showed what was achievable but we f**ked that up to and went back to pissing on trees and marking out territories.

Much blame has been levelled at the "old boys" of the St George side and the nepotism that went with it and that can't be underestimated but in the fullness of time I think we will find that the St George side tried to protect the legacy of St George and the Big Red V but they just got it terribly wrong and no doubt the JV was fractured.

The St George side indeed had a lot to protect and probably with some degree of arrogance and extreme coercion from the NRL begrudgingly gave ground to the Illawarra side of the JV which from the St George point of view was incredibly painful because Illawarra in their eyes had achieved very little and had failed. If it had been a takeover of an insolvent club IMO it would have been a far different and better outcome.

The once long held principal of big brother St G and little brother Illawarra was forced into equal partners as a result of the Superleague wars and it has never been easy for either side.

Our moving away from traditional values of our own junior nurseries being the mainstream feed of players into our system and allowing journeymen and no accounts to be at the front and centre of recruitment has also eroded any sense of tribalism and heritage further destabilising the club. St George's abandonment of its once plentiful junior nursery (not on their own either) was horrendous.

Looking at where we are now Mc Gregor arriving on a Jetski to meet Ben Hunt says much of what we shouldn't be let alone his total inability to recognise the value of the youth in our ranks.

So getting back to our culture we need to make a decision and stop being neither nor namely we either wear the Big Red V every game or we don't because that is truly where our heritage and DNA lies.

People need to ask themselves what jersey would you want to see our players run out on GF day wearing and which jumper would invoke the most emotion from our fans and the opposition as well for that matter.

Having been to many great days playing against Souths including GF's there is no doubt that seeing the hatred for our team (in its world famous jersey) in the eyes of the opponents was truly inspiring.

I am very pleased that the combined efforts of the BOD of the JV have appointed Griffin as coach.

I sincerely hope they let him build our culture as he from an outsiders perspective will understand the issues without prejudice and will take the best of all of it to ensure the players get the correct image of what it means to play for StGI.

Hopefully in the very near future we will again be the club that kids want to play for rather than the club we have to pay significant overs to get you.

When that happens we will have started a culture that will underpin our ongoing success.
 

Dragon Revival

Juniors
Messages
1,603
Our culture was to exude pride in performance and play tough and exciting football since the 1950's. Since Bennett left the the standard has been that the coaches accepted mediocre play and little application. The players need to apply themselves 100% not 50% or less. Hopefully Griffin will instil grit and quality in to the team performance.
 

Blood Shot Eyes

First Grade
Messages
5,967
Welcome Bayside Dragon......at least this being your first post you are on the threshold of hopefully enjoying reading and commenting on a new era for our club......sorry you will have to excuse our enthusiasm at this time....its just that most of us on here are frustrated, tired and just plain worn out from the Price and McGregor years.....but never fear we will come to life in 2021
 
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Mjab

Juniors
Messages
967
Thanks, mate. This could be more tragic. Imagine having been a North Sydney Bears supporter!!! I knew men - my late father-in-law was one of them- who supported that team for their entire lives and never saw their team win a GF. .....and that was in an 8 team competition!!!!
I truly feel sorry for Norths , got totally screwed over by The NRL first then Manly 2nd
Also Newtown

Hopefully where not going the same way

there was an arrangement made with the JV deal but cant remember
Personally I think that STG should have insisted on the Big red V jersey ,always
They can do Illawarra socks and shorts in my opinion

I dont know if you have to have home and away outfits as a rule by the NRL but we should nearly always be playing in the Big red V , that is a crucial part of our culture .

My wife (supports canberra) walked past TV the other day and was asking who I was watching as they were all in red , she didnt even recognize them
 

Gareth67

First Grade
Messages
8,406
In my opinion we have basically relocated. We are the Illawarra team. We keep our spiritual home, and jersey in which I agree should be our only but the players represent the Illawarra region for the most part. Many kids in the region have known only one team, the Dragons. I’m a St George supporter but Sydney is chockers with teams. A lot of the good young kids we have coming through are from the South Coast or are country boys that would prefer to live there than Sydney. St George has transcended the tiny district in which it was born. It is a brand like Man U or Liverpool. A brand that is essential to remember, honour and continue its history and traditions but proudly represent the NSW south coast region from St George down.

Forbes I believe that you have misunderstood what I was saying. I fully understand that the Dragons have indeed ‘ relocated ‘ and our new home is WIN stadium. Also that the Illawarra side of the Joint Venture must be taken into account with the jersey and for that matter anything to do with representing the Dragon brand .

I also very much appreciate and acknowledge the tremendous junior nursery that the South Coast was in the Dragons golden era and still is today . I changed with the times way back in 1999 when we first became a Joint Venture team .

At my 71 years of age I can see the good and the bad aspects of this Joint Venture , however being a Dragon tragic , as I believe was the term used , we could play in a pink jersey with our prestigious emblem sown on upside down and I would still support them .
 
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Mjab

Juniors
Messages
967
Im sure many of you may have already watched it but for any old school footy fans who grew up in the 70-80s like me The Final Winter was interesting to watch. Brought back a lot of memories and some interesting cameos. No Oscar nominations and you can see why, but a more enjoyable 90 mins than most of the games Ive watched in the last 2 years

Its free on the net if anyones interested and hasnt seen it

Old School Culture

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...96428294AF1816FDD669964&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
 
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