THE RED V NOSTALGIA THREAD

[blue bags]

My first recollections of the Dragon's were the mid 70s when my older cousin took me. I am sure they used to play the Ferdi Dominelli song and that bird with the yellowish beek was there at Jubilee but others might recall differently.

Also remember Skull outside the ground next to the old grandstand looking through the fence as probably was banned from entering the ground.

Yes skull would climb the tree on the outside of the Kogarah oval
Ferdi dommeleli . Ford dealership Hurstville

 

[justadragon]

I heard that the St George Leagues Club forked out big coin to keep the Steelers solvent/viable with the payback for us being a larger junior nursery. I suspect the SGJRL were doing fine and did not need the Steelers.

Yeah agree RVH, they needed money and we needed players to ensure our survival, it was mooted at some stage that we could have merged with Cronulla, but I'm pretty sure neither side wanted that. While we maintained some sort of domination over Cronulla for a few years, the scum have totally become the dominant club in every facet of the game.

 

[justadragon]

My first recollections of the Dragon's were the mid 70s when my older cousin took me. I am sure they used to play the Ferdi Dominelli song and that bird with the yellowish beek was there at Jubilee but others might recall differently.

Also remember Skull outside the ground next to the old grandstand looking through the fence as probably was banned from entering the ground.

Yep it was him and the phantom siren

 

[HenryTatana]

Fond recollection as a teenager we would watch the game near the old toilet block at the northern end of the ground behind the goal posts. As practical jokers we used to put a flag over the “WO” on the WOMEN sign and watch blokes walk into the ladies. Ah the things we used to do.

 

[justadragon]

Same here jd. We both likely watched this final.

Yep RVH sure did, we lost but they were still wonderful times.

 

[56to66]

I have been saying this for the last 10 years, St George have been urinated on, pooped on, the NRL has 0 history, 0 nostalgia, a club that broke the record for most premierships in a Row, for any real contact sports, never has been broken, never will be broken. The English Premier League have looked after the original legendary soccer teams, Liverpool, Man U, Arsenal, these clubs are always in top of the league, St George is like one of these clubs, however they are treated like some 3rd division Swansea City team
My support originated from the stories, Miss Granny from next door, told me about how the Great St George team used to use the crankshaft like a hot potato, however the shaft is now used in many other ways.

 

[pinball_collector]

Is anyone here from the Illawarra side of the merger?

yes, die hard steelers supporter.

the st. george side, most fans think they 'sold out, sold their soul etc'

imagine following a team that gets into a joint venture, yet just gets erased.

 

[baggygreen man]

James Cook High

My father was a teacher at James Cook High. I remember he sometimes took nite school classes and he'd take us kids with him. We had so much fun rifling thru the stationary cupboards and playing games in the corridors.

 

[Dribble&Yarn]

essentially, from what I have read/can ascertain, the Dragons would've survived from a money perspective, but decided to merge for the Illawarra's vastly superior juniors

 

[Number of the Beath]

yes, die hard steelers supporter.

the st. george side, most fans think they 'sold out, sold their soul etc'

imagine following a team that gets into a joint venture, yet just gets erased.

Not as erased as North Sydney, though

 

[Old Timer]

The days of leather balls with a players signature on it, leather shoulder pads, sponge pads in the insert of your shorts to protect your thighs, jock straps to keep your nuts safe, tape in your boots not laces, 2 different sets of metal sprigs for your boots, soak your rubbery mouth guard in hot water then mould it to your teeth, Sloan’s Liniment for rubbing sore muscles, waiting with dozens of other young footy players for an X-ray at St George Hospital casualty department and the nurse throwing everyone a dispirin for the pain, crepe bandages and cotton slings, cotton wool and plaster of Paris casts for the broken bones, the roar of the crowd when Poppa Clay or Elton Rasmussen would have to change their shorts after some dirty Rabbitt ripped them.

I’d go back to all that in a heart beat.

 

[baggygreen man]

Before the start of the 1921 season, trial matches were played at Sans Souci and training took place at the Drill Hall in Arncliffe with actual games played at Hurstville Oval.
In 1925 the club started using Earl Park at Arncliffe as its headquarters and home ground and remained there until the end of the 1939 season.
In 1933 St George sneaked into the semis in fourth place and won their way into the final against minor premiers Newtown before losing 18–5.
That same year they won the first night competition conducted by the NSWRL, a six-club competition played on three Saturday nights at the Sydney Showground.

https://stgeorgedragons.com.au/1934-round-3-st-george-v-souths-highlights-earl-park/

The first ever footage of our great club in action.

Two years later an emerging Dragon Slayers, as they were then known, made league history when they annihilated Canterbury-Bankstown 91–6, the biggest win in their history and still the biggest winning margin ever.
In 1937 for the fourth time in the club's short history, they finished as competition runners-up. Their inaugural premiership had still not been achieved when at the end of the decade, following the 1939 season, the club moved its home ground back to Hurstville Oval.
Former Mayor of Sydney, Jack Mostyn became President of the club in 1937 and retained the role for the next eight years.

The long wait for the club's first premiership finally ended in 1941 when they defeated Eastern Suburbs 31–14 at the SCG. They were captain-coached by Neville Smith while brothers Jack and Herb Gilbert Jr., the sons of the club's first captain-coach Herb Gilbert both played in the match.
In 1945 the club adopted the iconic Red V on white jumper.
A year later, Saints captained by Herb Narvo and starring the backline brothers Jack and Ray Lindwall were runners up again losing to Balmain 12–13. Shortly after Ray Lindwall would take the new ball for Australia in Test cricket. Quite an elite sportsman was Ray.

The St George Football Club came of age in the 1950s when a move from Hurstville Oval to Kogarah Oval saw the RedV take on Souths before a crowd of 12,500 fans in their inaugural match at the ground. Due to its close proximity to Kogarah Oval, the Carlton Hotel became the local watering hole for the players after training.

In 1953 the first St George Leagues Club was built on the corner of Princes Highway & Rocky Point Road and was to become the scene of many victory celebrations over the next decade as premiership after premiership were added to the club resume.

 

[baggygreen man]

Dragon Slayers??
When I first started following the Red V, wondered why are they were called the Dragons when the club insignia showed the Knight St George slaying the Dragon beast. Discovering the original nick name after all these years has now answered my question...

 

[baggygreen man]

I’d go back to all that in a heart beat.

Good to see you on the thread Old Timer from another old timer.

 

[baggygreen man]

when they annihilated Canterbury-Bankstown 91–6,

Oh yes!!!

 

[baggygreen man]

Also remember Skull outside the ground next to the old grandstand looking through the fence as probably was banned from entering the ground.

Why was he banned?

 

[baggygreen man]

Yeah agree RVH, they needed money and we needed players to ensure our survival, it was mooted at some stage that we could have merged with Cronulla, but I'm pretty sure neither side wanted that. While we maintained some sort of domination over Cronulla for a few years, the scum have totally become the dominant club in every facet of the game.

Yes jd that evidently was the case as the St George demographic had changed and there were now fewer kids playing league. Still our junior league has been able to survive to this day, so I question was the merger vital or even necessary.

 

[baggygreen man]

The Start of Our World Record Run. 1956-1966.

 

[jeffdragon]

Why was he banned?

Someone said he went on the field.
Not sure many moons ago.

 

[qld redvee]

Remember skull in the sheridan stand at scg every Saturday we were playing what an atmosphere and experience