Club information | |||
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Full name | St. George Illawarra Dragons Rugby League Football Club | ||
Nickname(s) | Dragons, Saints, Red V | ||
Colours |
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Founded | 23 September 1998 (joint-venture of the St. George Dragons and Illawarra Steelers) | ||
Website | dragons.com.au | ||
Current details | |||
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CEO | TBA | ||
Coach |
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Captain |
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Competition | National Rugby League | ||
2024 season 2023 season |
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Records | |||
Premierships | 1 2010 | ||
Runners-up | 1 (1999) | ||
Minor premierships | 2 (2009, 2010) | ||
World Club Challenge | 1 (2011) | ||
Most capped | 273 – Ben Hornby | ||
Highest try scorer | 124 – Matt Cooper | ||
Highest points scorer | 977 – Jamie Soward |
The St. George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since 1999 after a joint-venture was formed between the St. George Dragons (est. 1921) and the Illawarra Steelers (est. 1982).[1] The club officially formed as the game's first joint-venture club on 23 September 1998 and remains the only inter-city team in the NRL.[2] The team has its headquarters and leagues clubs in both Wollongong and the Sydney suburb of Kogarah, and trains and plays games regularly at WIN Stadium in Wollongong, as well as at Jubilee Oval in Kogarah. From 1999 to 2006 the club was jointly owned by the St. George Dragons 50% and Illawarra Steelers 50%. In 2006 WIN Corporation purchased 50% of the Illawarra Steelers stake in the club before purchasing the rest of the Illawarra Steelers' share in August 2018.
The Dragons reached the grand final in their first season in 1999, losing to the Melbourne Storm. St. George Illawarra is one of only two clubs (the other being the Sydney Roosters in 1908) to finish runner-up in its inaugural season. St. George Illawarra also fields teams in local competitions within the St. George and Illawarra regions. In 2010, the Dragons won their second successive minor premiership and became the first team to be awarded the J. J. Giltinan Shield in consecutive years since the National Rugby League was formed in 1998.
The Dragons won the 2010 NRL Grand Final against the Sydney Roosters 32–8 at Stadium Australia, Sydney. They then won the 2011 World Club Challenge, defeating the Wigan Warriors 21–15 at DW Stadium in the UK. With its World Club Challenge victory, the club became the first Australian team since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992–3 to win the minor premiership, premiership and World Club Challenge simultaneously.