An imposing home ground record presents a damning case for WIN Stadium to host a home semi-final for St George Illawarra this season.
As the competition-leading Dragons close in on the minor premiership, a battle is developing between the joint venture partners' two bases - in Wollongong and Kogarah - over the right to hold the game on the first weekend of the NRL finals series.
The club is considering a push to have WIN Stadium reclassified as a regional venue by the NRL, which would allow them to play finals at both WIN Jubilee Oval and in Wollongong on successive weekends.
Full coverage of The St George Illawarra DragonsBut if the Dragons march straight through to the preliminary final at the Sydney Football Stadium it would mean the Illawarra would miss out entirely.
St George Illawarra's win-loss record shows the Dragons have proven much harder to beat in Wollongong.
The Dragons have won 45 games since St George and Illawarra merged in 1999, losing 21 and having four draws.
At WIN Jubilee Oval, they have won 20 of 34 games.
The team has also won all five games in Wollongong this year, including a 48-18 thumping to Manly last Sunday.
The beachside WIN Stadium hosted the Dragons' only finals game when they beat Cronulla in a qualifying final in 2005.
Nine of the present squad, including star centre Matt Cooper, the NRL's leading tryscorer Brett Morris and State of Origin stars Justin Poore and Ben Creagh, are Illawarra or South Coast juniors.
Kogarah has a higher average crowd of 13,696 people since 1999, compared with an average of 12,735 in Wollongong.
However, Jubilee Oval figures are boosted by regular season derbies against the Sharks and other Sydney clubs, while WIN Stadium has traditionally hosted interstate clubs which have less drawing power.
The Kogarah ground reopened this year with a capacity of 20,541, compared with Wollongong's 18,484.
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