Dragons considering dropping “Illawarra” from their name

[ruthless dragon]

It’s not an indictment on St George or Illawarra Muz.

You see the St George brand relates to the history of an area that has changed and will never return to its previous demographics.

The brand lives in the minds of people of my generation. When we older supporters die out, so will the brand.

Illawarra is a wonderful area but has never ever been a Sydney/NSW/NRL footy powerhouse and most likely never will be. It resembles the culture of the Gold Coast franchise. Great beachside holiday location. Nothing more nothing less.

My preferences are:

1. We revert to St George Dragons; or

2. The licence holders call the team “Illawarra Saints” and wear the red V full time.

Got nothing to do with an area, People from all over the country follow the Dragons because of what they achieved not because of an area...serioisly

 

[muzby]

"Illawarra success" you say please enlighten us.

Premierships ?
SOO reps whilst playing in the IIllawarra / Steelers jumper ?
Australian reps whilst playing in the IIllawarra / Steelers jumper ?
TPA's for elite players ?
Elite players signed from other clubs ?
Financial security ?

For the record whilst we have people pointing the finger at nepotism within the St George ranks no fingers are pointed at the nepotism within the Illawarra ranks nor their complete inability to keep a club afloat in what some people deem is a "far better" location.

C’mon man, not the Steelers stuff again. We’ve been through this.

The Steelers haven’t been around in the top grade for 25 years.. So effectively any fan under 30 wouldn’t even remember them..

Ancient history.

I’m talking about success during the JV.

Modern. Relevant stuff

100% of all titles won throughout all grades since the JV have been won by teams with Illawarra in their title.

Zero by teams without Illawarra.

If we want success in the future, we should double down on Illawarra.

 

[Saints Forever]

Got nothing to do with an area, People from all over the country follow the Dragons because of what they achieved not because of an area...serioisly

All over the world

 

[Jeremy Dragon]

C’mon man, not the Steelers stuff again. We’ve been through

Modern. Relevant stuff

100% of all titles won throughout all grades since the JV have been won by teams with Illawarra in their title.

Zero by teams without Illawarra.

If we want success in the future, we should double down on Illawarra.

St George dragons 2021 tash Gale side says hello

 

[muzby]

St George dragons 2021 tash Gale side says hello

Well there you go..

Let’s change that zero to 1.

 

[AyiosYiorgos]

"Illawarra success" you say please enlighten us.

Premierships ?
SOO reps whilst playing in the IIllawarra / Steelers jumper ?
Australian reps whilst playing in the IIllawarra / Steelers jumper ?
TPA's for elite players ?
Elite players signed from other clubs ?
Financial security ?

For the record whilst we have people pointing the finger at nepotism within the St George ranks no fingers are pointed at the nepotism within the Illawarra ranks nor their complete inability to keep a club afloat in what some people deem is a "far better" location.

I don't know why you bother replying to him, he is just a troll only looking to incite instead of giving any football insight.

 

[muzby]

I don't know why you bother replying to him, he is just a troll only looking to incite instead of giving any football insight.

I disagree.

There’s some great footy discussion already happening off the back of my quality content.

Did you know the St George Dragons most recent title was in 2021?

Why didn’t the club make more noise about it?

 

[Fangs]

Too many great moments to drop the Illawarra name. Young Ryan Girdler in this clip:


And at least Shaun made up for this in 2004:

 

[Gardenia]

Well as posted in another thread, I have visited the gong recently and had talks to many locals and they do not see the Dragons as their team. I think they should be given back their steelers and the Kogarah fans given back their Dragons. The Merge has not worked. Lovely town and people BTW.Apart from the areas and people that made me feel unsafe. To be honest I think they would identify more with Canberra then a Sydney team.

 

[Gardenia]

Too many great moments to drop the Illawarra name. Young Ryan Girdler in this clip:


And at least Shaun made up for this in 2004:

Great moments . Id be bloody sad if I was an original Steelers supporter.

 

[Gardenia]

Well when someone from down that way can tell me that I will be all the wiser.

There is no doubt the St George side of things were errant in their handling of all of this and plenty of blame rests at their doorstep but as I keep asking / pontificating / ranting what is the "attraction" in letting Kogarah go and being based at Wollongong?

Wollongong has done absolutely nothing to warrant an icon such as St George leaving all of its home, traditions and history behind.

OT I recently visited the Gong and can confirm the locals do not care for the Dragons and do not see it as their team. The club has only one jersey with the Red V on it and it's hidden in a back corner. it's actually signed by the winning GF team and you have to look hard to find it. The Merge has not worked this is pretty obvious. The gong locals don't like it or want it and the Kogarah fans feel the same way. I can understand how the gong locals feel. Id be gutted and absolutely devastated if the Dragons lost their jersey and were the Cronulla Kogarah sharks for example.
I feel we have invaded them in a way and it makes me sad. I also feel why should we share our great heritage when its not even respected .

 

[Saints Forever]

OT I recently visited the Gong and can confirm the locals do not care for the Dragons and do not see it as their team. The club has only one jersey with the Red V on it and it's hidden in a back corner. it's actually signed by the winning GF team and you have to look hard to find it. The Merge has not worked this is pretty obvious. The gong locals don't like it or want it and the Kogarah fans feel the same way. I can understand how the gong locals feel. Id be gutted and absolutely devastated if the Dragons lost their jersey and were the Cronulla Kogarah sharks for example.
I feel we have invaded them in a way and it makes me sad. I also feel why should we share our great heritage when its not even respected .

This is the problem in a nutshell.

May be best if they both hand in the NRL licence and play KOE Cup.

The political stalemate is doing both sides no good.

 

[st.phil]

This is the problem in a nutshell.

May be best if they both hand in the NRL licence and play KOE Cup.

The political stalemate is doing both sides no good.

You’ve taken the pulse of a population of over 300k?

 

[Walpole]

You’ve taken the pulse of a population of over 300k?

Must have been a busy day.

 

[Gardenia]

You’ve taken the pulse of a population of over 300k?

They are responding to my comments. Fair Point its not a scientific survey or anything. Just some observations and does not include the suburbs . Pretty randomised though broad cross section of ages and types of people although restricted to cities so far. I'm guessing if I was in Newey visiting and mentioned we were knights fans ( which we are not) there would have beeb a bigger response .

 

[Saints Forever]

You’ve taken the pulse of a population of over 300k?

Of course I have

At the end of the day the arrangement hasn’t worked satisfactorily for either party.

 

[possm]

I say let the Illawarra Steelers have a junior rugby league club which would thrive given the number of local junior clubs in the district. They could field a team in the NSWRL Competition and be a feeder club for the Dragons NRL side.

If this happened, I believe both Illawarra and St George would be much happier chappies.

 

[Trifili13]

I say let the Illawarra Steelers have a junior rugby league club which would thrive given the number of local junior clubs in the district. They could field a team in the NSWRL Competition and be a feeder club for the Dragons NRL side.

If this happened, I believe both Illawarra and St George would be much happier chappies.

If the place was run probably, the Illawarra juniors should be feeding the NRL team already. Splitting the JV would not make the local illawarra clubs produce any better quality players.

 

[denis preston]

OT I recently visited the Gong and can confirm the locals do not care for the Dragons and do not see it as their team. The club has only one jersey with the Red V on it and it's hidden in a back corner. it's actually signed by the winning GF team and you have to look hard to find it. The Merge has not worked this is pretty obvious. The gong locals don't like it or want it and the Kogarah fans feel the same way. I can understand how the gong locals feel. Id be gutted and absolutely devastated if the Dragons lost their jersey and were the Cronulla Kogarah sharks for example.
I feel we have invaded them in a way and it makes me sad. I also feel why should we share our great heritage when its not even respected .

How many people did you talk to , 10 , 20 , 50 ? Any NRL fans under 30?

 

[possm]

If the place was run probably, the Illawarra juniors should be feeding the NRL team already. Splitting the JV would not make the local illawarra clubs produce any better quality players.

Having a successful Illawarra Jnr Leagues Club a la South Sydney Jrr Leagues club would encourage the local district into patronizing the club and supporting the local district teams. In the Illawarra had a team in the NSWRL Competition with home games at WIN Stadium, then I suspect crowds and a following would grow.

At the same time, a St George NRL team would again have its history recognized and get on with developing an NRL squad without the interference of the Illawarra connection. NRL players would again be located in Sydney and facilities for the NRL club would be developed.