I have to say, as a long time Saints man I think the introducing the all red jersey or the concept of a 'Steelers jersey' for Wollongong games only and 'Red V' in Sydney only is the worst thing that the club could do. It's been almost 20 years, time to move forward as the club we are now and not the two clubs we were back then. Two identities that respect two teams will just segregate our fan base and cause friction for no good reason other than profit on merch, it would cause more problems than it's worth.
I was 16 at the time of the merger, and a St.George fan before that, but I was young enough to get behind the merger 100% without to much feeling of loss, and granted, this was made a hell of a lot easier by seeing my new team of St.George Illawarra running around in the St.George jersey with the St.George logo on their chest. I can only imagine how hard those first few years would have been for a Steelers fan but with the immediate success we had in '99, Steelers fans and players got to experience a Grand Final and a damn exciting team on the field. I remember the atmosphere at games in '99 were really happy and harmonious as we were all getting behind a champion team. I think with the exception of Rod Wishart (who was a Steeler through and through), all the players even got right into it, Paul McGreggor refers to himself as a one club man, and that's how it should be. In the end of the day, call it what you will but St.George Illawarra is just an extension of the St.George history, hence why all our merch is Est 1921 and 2010 was our 16th Premiership that broke the 31 year drought. No once did they say it was our first.
I mean the whole 'Red V' and 'Dragons' thing has definitely had it's agenda pushed since the JV. Before then we were just St.George or Saints, Dragons wasn't a thing and the Red V was just our jersey, no one got up in arms about it as much as they do now, but both side want to push for identity and I think the Red V is a great thing to get behind.
I think it's taken a long time, and the lack of success after '99 (esp with golden teams of '05 and '06) defs had people screaming about the merger (as they are again now in the post Bennett era too) but in 2009 and 2010 no one cared what was on our chest, we laughed at the Wolverine strip but we didn't care as we were all behind the winning team and for the first time in the Mergers history, I felt that all fans had finally united under the St.George Illawarra banner and then stupidly the year after winning the GF they made the old Steelers jersey the away top (11 years after) and again it brought back the jersey debate and the old Steelers vs St.George.
If it were up to me, White jersey Red V home and Red jersey, white V away. Simple, that's our brand and everyone will get behind it and I think once a year we have a Steelers weekend and a St.George weekend where we honour the two great clubs that made our current club and the classic strips can be worn for all the loyalists out there.
Just my thoughts on the subject
