Dragons To Break Away From Illawarra.

muzby
I am having a great day thank you for that

We are rationally discussing St George pre JV numbers and post JV numbers correct?

Logic to me says that obviously the increase of 27% that you refer to (post JV) has to come from somewhere so I attribute the majority of that to former Steelers supporters are you now saying that is incorrect and the former Steeler supporters play no role in the increase?

Who do you credit for the increase in attendance at St George home games post JV?

 

Illawarra no longer its a 50 St.george 50 wincorp partnership. Steelers is long gone over 20 years ago . Its a money game and wincorp st.george need to make the big change its always been the big red v and Illawarra will be removed from the partnership moving forward.

 

So Manly-Warringbah Sea Eagles, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks need a hyphenated add-on to increase their supporter base? How many people say all that in normal conversation?

I can imagine the fans at home games yelling... "Saint-George-Illa-warra-Drag-ons! Saint-George-Illa-warra-Drag-ons!"

Who wants to lead the chant?

 

At Wollongong, the chant is "Drag-ons!". At Kogarah, the chant is "Saint-George!"

Never heard "Illa-warra".

 

Some stats relating to Illawarra Steelers
ex Wikipedia

Coaches[edit]
Name Seasons Games Wins Draws Losses Win %
1 Allan Fitzgibbon 82–83, 95 70 22 1 47 31.4
2 Brian Smith 84–87 96 32 0 64 33
3 Terry Fearnley 88 22 6 1 15 27.3
4 Ron Hilditch 89–90 44 13 2 29 29.5
5 Graham Murray 91–95 95 51 5 39 53.7
6 Allan McMahon 96 22 8 0 14 36.4
7 Andrew Farrar 97–98 47 21 4 22 44.7

Average attendance[edit]
The Illawarra Steelers average attendances from their entry into the competition in 1982 were:[12]

Season Average Attendance
1998 9,248
1997 8,695
1996 7,434
1995 9,651
1994 11,911
1993 12,321
1992 13,750
1991 12,244
1990 9,968
1989 7,253
1988 8,386
1987 7,498
1986 7,535
1985 5,634
1984 7,086
1983 5,892
1982 8,222

 

It's a bit of a mouthful. I think the fans have voted with their voices.

 

Funny how for some the Steelers who were the actual team are consigned to the dustbin of time and the emphasis is placed solely on "Illawarra".

So maybe there are some disgruntled people out there that think that "Illawarra" must be reflected in the JV name out of some long ago notion that St George without the Illawarra was nothing. As if saying the Illawarra have some form of entitlement.

Interesting that the Steelers amounted to nothing and disappeared despite a direct involvement with the Illawarra so what went wrong with that scenario?

 

There's a good reason why 'the Illawarraites' never stuck as a nickname.

"The Illa-whats" you say? Yes, that was a nickname the media tried to give us some generations ago. Can't imagine why it didn't catch on. There was also the 'Dragon Slayers' in the early years, and this shortened to 'Dragons' over time. But the most enduring name since 1921 has been 'St George', or just 'Saints'.

You hear referees call us St George. You hear commentators call us St George or Saints (some are given the PC treatment for doing so). Fans call us St George or Saints. Even lots of players call us St George, including that much loved Steeler, Trent Barrett.

People can say what they like. But clearly St George hasn't gone away.

 

South's, Manly, Melbourne, Warriors and Brisbane all have private partners but do not include the partners name in their Club name. St George shoould never included Illawarra in their club name.

 

The reason why I mention Steelers is for the fact that they were the team that represented the Illawarra in the NRL.

They are the legacy for the Illawarra region in respect of the NRL not St George.

The Illawarra's chosen entity was a dud so the Illawarra had its chance and it failed.

Obviously many in the Illawarra region chose not to follow them and stick with their local comps so why the hell should St George have to acknowledge them?

This entire scenario would have been better if they had been listed in the "expression of interests" register for clubs and ultimately for St George to apply to take the entire operation over.

 

Perhaps I didn't explain it very well. Calling the team St George hasn't gone away.

Commentators try to say the full hyphenated name because that's what they are told to do, but even they regularly go for the easier option. The whole official name is a bit forced so the casual conversation tends to shorten it to St George, Saints or Dragons. 'Dragons' seems to be the most politically correct. But watching the game last weekend and Blocker just kept on calling us 'Saints' all day.

I can't recall anyone calling us 'St George-Illawarra' in normal / casual conversation. That might be the only consistent factor in all this.