Oliver Locke wore his red and white with pride - Dragons scarf, Dragons underwear, Dragons jersey. He'd go to bed in Dragons pajamas, sleeping under Dragons posters after brushing his teeth with a Dragons toothbrush.
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He became a fan of the club when he was only three, initiated into the tradition at the loungeroom TV of his late poppy - himself a Steelers man. He became uncannily good at maths due to his early interest in Dragons player statistics. When he was old enough, he'd watch games from The Hill at WIN Stadium, getting to his feet to cheer with everything a pint-sized season passholder could muster.
But the Fairy Meadow nine-year-old is more subdued when he talks about the St George Illawarra Dragons lately. In fact, he's taken all the club's posters down, packed his merchandise away and switched allegiances to the Parramatta Eels. Nine is not too young for a broken heart.
"Starting off, the Dragons weren't just really good players, they were nice people," Oliver told the Mercury.
"But in the last few years ...
"And now, when we're in lockdown, they just have a massive party, all of them. Just because they're first graders doesn't mean they're special."
Oliver was following the news, troubled, when the club controversially considered signing Israel Folau. His parents later gave him an age-appropriate version of the court cases surrounding Jack de Belin.
Oliver told his mum he was relieved when de Belin wasn't caught up in the recent Shellharbour players' party that cost host Paul Vaughan his career and more than $50,000 in fines. But the next day news broke that de Belin had been one of 13 Dragons players to attend in breach of government and NRL lockdown rules - just hiding under a bed so police didn't initially catch him too.
"Oli said, 'obviously he [de Belin] knew he was doing the wrong thing because otherwise why did he hide when the police came?'," said Oliver's mother, Clare Williams.
"For at least a couple of years there's been a number of stories about players not doing the right thing, and it's sort of built up.
"With the party, Oli was just so crushingly disappointed that everyone else is trying to do the right thing, and they're not. He was so mad. He was disappointed in their attitude."
The players were fined $1000 each from NSW Police, plus NRL-imposed penalties ranging from $2000 to Vaughan's $50,000. But the price of lost fans may be steeper still.
Oliver said it would take something significant for him to dust off his Dragons gear again.
"If they apologised for what they've done, and became better people," he said. "If I was able to look up to them and they were nice players, and respectful."
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