Opinion

The Dragons' red V still stands for a (small) victory

Rugby league is a very hard marker. Unless you win the grand final, your season is generally considered to be a failure.

As a fan, there is part of me that understands that - and agrees with it. That's the part that is longing to find out what it's like to end the season on the highest of high notes.

The part that wants to buy a premiers T-shirt, DVD and however many other items of grand-final winners merchandise I can buy before my wife tells me to stop.

Are you a Dragons fan? Tell us what you thought of Saturday night's game, and the Dragons' season in general. Post a comment below.

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But the fan in me also wants to acknowledge just how much the Dragons accomplished this year. Yes, some of it will be little more than a footnote in the record books and some of it won't even rate a mention.

For the first time since the merger, other teams truly feared us (until, perhaps, that game in Canberra).

For the first time I was able to watch a Dragons game with a sense of confidence, rather than waiting for that undisciplined 10 minutes where we'd throw away yet another win. And I've seen so many undisciplined 10 minutes over the years.

This year's team won more regular season games, let in fewer points and ended up with a better points differential than any other St George Illawarra team.

We saw some awe-inspiring footy from some awe-inspiring players - Jamie Soward, Beau Scott, Michael Weyman, Brett Morris, Ben Hornby, Dean Young and everyone who wore the Red V this year (on the field, that is. I wore the Red V a number of times this year and not once produced a man-of-the-match effort).

And for the first time we won the minor premiership. Sure, this means nothing to the broader rugby league community, but as a St George Illawarra Dragons fan, it represents a step forward. All of these things represent a step forward.

And, I guess, any time you're moving forward, it has to be a good season.

Not a great one - that would involve me buying one of those premiers T-shirts - but a good one.

So now I'll just wait six months for the start of the 2010 season when, hopefully, we'll make a few more forward steps.

Posted By: By GLEN HUMPHRIES on 21/09/2009 10:10:00 AM | Comments (42)

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Date: Newest first | Oldest first

They just wern't hungry enough. To put it simply jamie soward and brett morris cannot win a game on their own. The whole team needs to pull together.Till next year thats all folk's.

Posted by markm, 21/09/2009 12:23:45 PM, on Illawarra Mercury

I will forever member that night at Kogarah when we were presented with the Shield - the only trophy that matters until we win another one. As much pain as I am in right now, it has been a great year, and I too can't wait to buy that 2010 Premiers T'shirt!

Posted by Cavalier, 21/09/2009 12:23:48 PM, on Illawarra Mercury

I own finals shirts, this year's minor premiers shirt and even a 1999 grand finalists shirt.

But what I'm missing is that premiers shirt.

Posted by Glen Humphries on 21/09/2009 1:37:49 PM

Not Hungry enough and woeful defence. Ben Hornby is not a specialist halfback. Top Number 7s play a massive role in winning titles have a look at the sides remaining number 7s, Kimmorley, Robson, Cronk & Wallace all specialist halfbacks. The Broncos thoroughly deserve their win and will give Melbourne a run for their money if Wallace plays. St George will NOT win the premiership in 2010.

Posted by Andrew, 21/09/2009 1:11:00 PM, on Illawarra Mercury

Their 2009 season ended just two days ago, and you're already writing them off for 2010?

Jeez, talk about getting in early.

Posted by Glen Humphries on 21/09/2009 1:22:38 PM

Basically we played five to six weeks of average football. All of the things that had previously won games came unstuck. The undisciplined 10 minutes stretched into 20 minutes. On Saturday it was obvious that they had lost confidence in each other. Just look at the number of times they tried to score indiviualist tries. This tells us something. Oh well, I am a long time dragons fan as well. There is always next year. Perhaps this experience will make them better but, a few blokes need to take a long hard look at themselves and maybe a couple need to retire.

Posted by Done in, 21/09/2009 1:53:50 PM, on Illawarra Mercury

Bring back Browny & Gasnier! At least Browny won them semi finals! I cant believe this! Im devastated! Why? Why us? Every year! I just cant understand why? Why? Please tell me why? Why us? Why? Please God tell me why? Why? Can anyone tell me Why? I love my Dragons and i cant wait until the season starts next year but the next 6 months will be filled with, why us?

Its always us, every year US! Never anyone else. 2010 we need to win the grand final, we need to at whatever cost! Chin up lads! To all the players, coaching staff and dragons officials, Congrats on a good season nonetheless! It now gives us a stepping stone for next year! The experience will do us good! DRAGONS 2010!!

Posted by Horhay, 21/09/2009 2:08:44 PM, on Illawarra Mercury

On a whole, it was a good year. The disappointing part was for the first time in years I honestly believed (until about a month ago) we had the best team and 'deserved' to win the grand final, so it is extra shattering compared to those years where we were good enough but always ran into a team like the Storm (2006) who were just that bit better. The hardest part is having another year of hearing how your team are "chokers" and not being able to prove otherwise. At the start of the year I never thought we'd be minor premiers which is an achievement the team should be proud of, hopefully it will put us in a good position for the future. I guess after Saturday night is all you can say is, "maybe next year", just like I said last year, and the year before that, and the year before that....

Posted by Freddy, 21/09/2009 2:15:53 PM, on Illawarra Mercury

Freddy,

I think the minor premiership came as a surprise to a lot of people.

Which makes me dispute the label of "chokers", at least where the 2009 Dragons are concerned.

If they surpassed people's expectations, how can they be chokers?

Posted by Glen Humphries on 21/09/2009 2:33:05 PM

To win big games like these your forwards need to belt their opposites with their defence or with the ball. Two examples took place on the weekend, Moi Moi belted the titans forward when he had the ball and this laid the platform for the Eels to win thier game. Simms belted his opposites with his defence and did the same for his team. Unfortunately the Saints forwards failed to do either and that is why they lost.

Posted by PhilR, 21/09/2009 2:48:20 PM, on Illawarra Mercury

Does this mean that we can get some impartiality in the Mercury's coverage of the NRL for the rest of the season?

Posted by snoopy, 21/09/2009 3:02:15 PM, on Illawarra Mercury

I was at the game amongst the dragons army in the corner. Dragons did it tough battling against constantly offside defence, but hey, what do you expect at a packed lang park! Sadly they made crucial errors in attack, starting with the early decision to go for 2 points and then in the 2nd half going to the right side when creagh / morris were more likely to score on the left. They had a great season but they ran out of steam and the finals system made them ripe for the picking....Go Dragons 2010!

Posted by MarkOs, 21/09/2009 3:03:53 PM, on Illawarra Mercury

What an EPIC CHOKE!!! There can be no excuses for that performance. I was at the game on Saturday night and I'm wondering why I even bother supporting the Dragons anymore. I could see how totally exhausted, depleted and out on their feet the Broncos players were and yet our forwards didn’t have the killer instinct to do anything about it. And how many times is the team going to settle for an early penalty goal as if that’s enough of a buffer to win the game? Unbelievable! We were deep in their own half and had them on the back foot and Soward took a shot at goal. Where was the belief, passion and the confidence to break their try line? Pathetic.

Posted by Matt Yates, 21/09/2009 3:44:17 PM, on Illawarra Mercury

Matt,

While I agreed with most of our early penalty goal attempts, I didn't understand the one in this game. We'd just gotten a penalty and the chance to attack their line. Instead we opted for a low-percentage penalty shot from 40-some metres out.

But this wasn't an EPIC CHOKE. If you look up epic choke in the dictionary it'll say "see 1999 grand final".

Posted by Glen Humphries on 21/09/2009 4:05:28 PM

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