bender said:
Willow said:
bender said:
Saints were always a successful club but at the time of the criteria they were never a powerhouse in terms of finances or crowd support.
They werent getting the same crowd support as they were in the 60s or 70s but the crowd support in the 90s was greater than it was in the 80s. Not sure what the point is though because it happens to all teams. The Bronco's crowds are down on what they were ten years ago.
The point here is that Saints were not powerhouses at the time. The criteria gave clubs basically 2? years to rank in the top 14. Saints were always going to rank somewhere between 10 and 16. They might have made it, but they would have been very worried about making it. THus, they decided to ensure there future with the merger, so they did not take the chance of getting the chop.
There was more to it than that. Saints were never going to fail to contribute to the League.
Ask the question: were Saints in some doubt as to their chances of survival? Or was it that the Steelers had no chance of survival?
Allow the answer to follow on from that and we begin to get a better picture as to why the joint venture was a good idea.
bender said:
St George (stand alone) would have never dreamed that they were going to finish ahead of Manly in the criteria at the time that they announced their merger.
And yet Manly are now one of the battlers and Saints are now (as they were then) a financially secure club. Kind of makes you think that there's more to than what you read in the papers.
bender said:
When the criteria was announced, they were definitely in line for the chop.
Willow said:
I dont think so. I remember reading some hogwash in 1996 that Saints were destined for the Metropolitan League but that was during the SL war. Saints made the grand final that year.
bender said:
Now in hindsight, I would say that they would have stood alone, but when Saints merged, Manly and Norths would have both been considered a better bet to make the 14 than Saints. If Saints had tried to stand alone, there is no doubt that they would be dwelling around the cellars with souths (if they did survive).
Willow said:
lol.. how do you know that? :lol:
bender said:
Well there not exactly title contenders, could not even make the 8 in 15 team competition. Still though, I guess you could cling to hope that they have unfulfilled potential. What odds are they to pick up the spoon this year, I might have a flutter. ;-)
lol... what odds are you offering?
bender said:
I agree that you need to utilise the St George name. But i dont see how calling yourselves the Illawarra St George Dragons is failing to utilise that since most people would still call them St George anyway. I know that St George is a suburb but I think of St George as a generic term which is bigger than the suburb. In fact, I think of the Saints Mascot as the St George Dragon and not just the Dragon. I know this is splitting hairs but I would have thought this would have been the ideal way to embrace and please both supporters equally and keep both happy.
Well it is splitting hairs.
There isnt a suburb called 'St George' btw. Not in Sydney anyway. It is a district and a parish.
Believe it or not, this was one of the issues people raise when entering to debates about Saints and is further testimony as to how much other team's supporters are concerned about the goings on in the Dragons' territory. It always a comfort to that others care so much. ;-)
I understand that there are moves afoot to link up all the suburbs of Kogarah Rockdale, Hurstville etc etc etc into one mega-district to be known as 'the Greater City of St George' - although I have no idea have far that has developed, if at all. People like Dasher, R2K, Rex Hunt and Gorilla would know more about that.
If it happened it would help a little but imo, its never really been the issue.
Anyway, at the end of the day, the name St George is more easily recognisable than Illawarra. 'St George' is arguably the most well known rugby league team ever. They are certainly the most successful with more wins than any other team over the last 83 years. Marketing exercises aside, it is a record which is hard to ignore.
:?
. But Sullyfans swamp? You call me a mosquito, shouldnt it be SATW's Swamp?
