legend said:
Ok, IMO it was pretty obvious Saints would have folded if they did not merge with Illawarra and after speaking with several people, including Saints fans, we are all of the same opinion.
I see now that your evidence of 'one diehard Saints fan has suddenly multiplied into 'several people including Saints fans'.... such impressive credentials all round. :lol:
Now, I'm convinced that apart from a bit of pubtalk, you have absolutely no idea what you're talkng about here. I have to hand it to you though... at least you made an effort to entertain us with some sort of answer... even if it was being made-up on the run.
legend said:
Do you have any factual evidence to suggest Saints could have survived past 1998 as a stand alone club? Nobody knows either way so there's not much more to say really. You will always think Saints would have been viable and the majority of rugby league fans thought otherwise, myself included.
LOL.. Oh I see, you now want me to come up with factual evidence but you only need have an opinion to back up your claims. The stand-up routine gets better and better.
And what do you mean that 'nobody knows either way' lol... Nobody at all??? Or nobodies who think they know. :lol: ;-)
In any case mate, its great to hear that you now have the ear of 'majority of rugby league fans...LOL. And btw, there's a lot more to say on this subject... I haven't even warmed up yet. ;-)
OK... I suppose I should give serious answer... I can provide something a little more substantial than opinion.
Since 1998, St George have provided large sums of money to the Illawarra branch of the joint venture. This money has been used to pay creditors, improve junior recruitment, home ground facilities and club facilities etc. No disrespect to the Steelers, but their clubhouse looks like it belongs to a poor club. This 'evidence' has been well documented and is in the order of millions of dollars. These are not the actions of a club that was about to fold in 1999.
Furthermore, when the joint venture took place, founding Illawarra secretary, Bob Millward was quoted in newspapers, magazines, club journals TV and even the JV video release as saying, 'Illawarra would not have survived another season without the JV'. He said this in 1999.
This could have been a takeover, but it wasn't. You'd be surprised to hear that St George and Illawarra have a common history that goes back many decades. I enjoyed reading GreenEye's account of the history of Canberra district RL. Illawarra's southern division also have a long history which goes back to the 1930s and the St George RLFC has never been far away. Mark Coyne once described St George and Illawarra as having a 'kindred spirit'. He said there no other footballing districts that had this connection.
From a pure business point of view, it was in the interest of St George to formalise the agreement of a joint venture. Graeme Langlands has often described the Illawarra as having a 'huge backyard'. In simple terms, it would have been stupid to ignore the junior base and the potential that it presented.
Still from a business point of view, Illawarra saw benefits in the JV because they had deep fincancial difficulties and they were now gaining the support of one of the richest clubs in rugby league.
Without giving it to you in triplicate, I think all of that is pretty much evidence enough that St George were not about to fold as you and 'several' of your friends have claimed. Indeed, I've provided factual accounts of the JV and I think you know that all of it is from well informed sources.
