St George Illawarra chief executive Peter Doust has denied there is a push from within the club's board to take their home semi-final away from the Dragons' WIN Stadium headquarters and host the clash at Kogarah's redeveloped Jubilee Oval.Doust revealed the Dragons will not make a decision on a home semi-final venue until after the clash with Brisbane in Wollongong on Friday night.With the minor premiership within reach, the management behind both of the joint venture club's home grounds have pencilled in Sunday, September 13 to host the eighth-placed team in a qualifying final.
Full coverage of The St George Illawarra DragonsThe St George Illawarra boss has rejected there are moves within the club's corridors of power to ensure the game is played at Kogarah, providing the Dragons the chance to show off the latest stage of their $13 million WIN Jubilee Oval redevelopment.''We anticipate that after the Wollongong game we will be in a position to make a decision,'' Doust said. ''I don't know that a push within the club is the right term.''We have to look at what is acceptable to our members and partners in regard to our facilities and atmosphere.''And both of them have as much support.''The qualifying final will be the only home semi-final for the Dragons.If they win on the first weekend of the finals series they will march into a preliminary final at either the Sydney Football Stadium or ANZ Stadium, while if they suffer a shock loss, the Dragons will play away on the following weekend.WIN Stadium general manager Stuart Barnes last month said he was expecting the game to be played in Wollongong because of its greater capacity to entertain corporate clients and considering it was the Dragons permanent training base.The WIN Stadium playing surface has been tailored to suit the request of coach Wayne Bennett, the man who has led the Dragons' incredible rise from a team renowned as big-game chokers to the raging premiership favourites.However, with the ageing WIN Stadium western and southern grandstands in desperate need of an upgrade, forces from the Sydney end of the St George Illawarra club are determined to railroad the process and take the clash to Kogarah, reopened earlier this season after an extensive redevelopment to its main grandstand.Doust claimed Bennett and the senior playing group, who are all believed to be in support of playing the home semi-final in Wollongong, will be given a voice.''I think it's fair to say that we don't do much without consulting our football management,'' Doust said.''But at this point we haven't been in a position to be clearly able to (making a decision).''
