SUMMARY
In a year which promised so much, 2000, 'the year of
the Dragon' will go down as one of the worse seasons on record.
The team was racked with injury in a lineup which had
already lost key players, many of whom retired at the end of season 1999.
The Grand Final loss to Melbourne in 99 was heart breaking.
We could touch the title, we were celebrating, we 'had it won'. But in
the final 20 minutes everything went wrong as luck and the referee turned
on us and the match was stolen from our grasp. Saints found a new way to
lose a Grand Final with an unprecedented penalty try going against us in
the final minutes.
We tried to put this behind us but it was clear that
2000 would be tough.
Then there was the off season in-fighting which was highlighted
by rumour surrounding Treacy and Bartrim. Anthony Mundine did little to
ease the tension and was a constant source of entertainment for the low
life media which were on the look out for a cheap story. Choc's comments
about last years premiers and the subsequent 70 -10 loss to Melbourne in
round 5 was probably the final straw for Mundine who shot through like
a Bondi Tram.
Following Mundine's retirement from rugby league, coach
David Waite was sacked and Andrew Farrar was formally installed as head
coach. The coaching issue was festering for some time. Resolving the issue
was welcomed however, it created further instability.
Then there were further disasters with players breaking
bones and ligaments and we suddenly found ourselves learning about body
parts we had never heard of before. It was like a train wreck as the injury
toll mounted and star players were being replaced by kids - all of whom
never let us down. Then the kids started to be carted off and we knew by
mid season that we were losing the race.
Then there were the refs...
Saints lost the penalty count on all but two occasions
in season 2000. We were unable to rise above the pack when it came to dealing
with low quality refereeing which was a blight on the comp throughout the
season. All teams cop bad refs from time to time. The good teams can win
despite this. As bad as the referees were to us in 2000, it simply does
not hold up as an excuse.
The main reason why the Dragons were not a force this
year comes down to their defence, one of the worse in the competition.
We lost a number of games which should have been won.
At the end of the day, the reasons were too numerous
to mention and making excuses is really not the way to go.
In short, we simply were not good enough.
The fact that the Dragons managed to win almost half their
games this year is a credit to the club's depth and shows that we have
something to offer in 2001.
A lot of young players will be better next year due to
the experience forced upon them in 2000.
Here is a summary of the news and rumours which dotted
the season. They can all be seen in detail in News
and Rumours archives
MONTHLY
HIGHLIGHTS
FEBRUARY:
New Saints jersey rumoured for 2001.
Solomon Haumono returns to rugby league and Saints
welcome him back.
MARCH:
St George, Illawarra and StGeorge-Illawarra experience
their biggest ever loss going down 70-10 to Melbourne.
Club officials place media ban on Anthony Mundine.
APRIL:
Popular StGeorge CEO, Brian Johnston resigns citing
health reasons.
Saints' five eighth, Anthony Mundine creates controversy
when he leaves Australia without club permission.
2nd rower, Lance Thompson is injured and out for
season.
MAY:
Saints thrash Auckland 54-0
Mundine resigns from rugby league and announces
that he will be pursuing a career in boxing.
Amos Roberts named as starter in first grade.
In round 14, he scores a record 22 points on debut.
Shaun Timmins & Jamie Ainscough selected
for rep duties in NSW state of origin team.
Mark Gasnier out for season with broken leg.
Lance Thompson re-signs with Dragons for 4 years.
Shaun Timmins hurts knee while playing for NSW
in state of injury which ultimately puts him out for the season.
Coach, David Waite is sacked as head coach and
Andrew
Farrar takes over.
JUNE:
Peter Doust new CEO.
Wayne Bartrim plays 200th first grade match.
Saints' Chairman, Doug McClelland resigns. Likely
replacement is former St George and NSWRL chairman Warren Lockwood.
Trent Barrett signs a 4 year deal with Saints.
StGeorge great, Jack Lindwall passes away. Jack
holds numerous point scoring records from the 1940s.
Nathan Blacklock signs 3 year contract with Saints.
Saints thrash Melbourne 50-4
Matt Cooper is out for season with jaw injury.
Corey
Pearson (thumb) also joins the list of season injuries.
JULY:
One of the great club men of rugby league, Colin Ward
suffers a neck injury which at best ends his career with the Dragons.
Some say he will never play again.
Jamie Ainscough ruptures bicep tendon in round
22 match and is out for season.
Ben Hornby &
Justin
Smith debut in 1st grade for Saints.
Cheek injury to Lee Murphy puts
him out for rest of season.
Nathan Blacklock re-writes the history books,
topping the comp try scoring tally for 2 years running (only done once
before by Ken Irvine in the 70s) as well as scoring 20 tries or more per
season for 3 years running - a feat never before achieved.
Trent Barrett, Nathan Blacklock and Shaun
Timmins named in the preliminary train-on squad for Australia's World
Cup team.
AUGUST:
Trent Barrett wins the 'Dally M' PLAYER
OF THE YEAR award. Barrett received 28 judge's points to beat off late
charges from Brett Kimmorley and Andrew Johns. Barrett was presented the
award by PM Howard. As well,
Trent Barrett is named as five eighth
and Nathan Blacklock is named as winger in the 'Dally M' TEAM
OF THE YEAR. Nathan Blacklock
also receives an award for TOP TRY
SCORER. Other Dragons' players receiving recognition were Amos Roberts
and
Luke
Branighan who were both nominated in the ROOKIE OF THE YEAR section,
Saints being the only team with 2 ROOKIE contenders. The gala event was
often highlighted by cheers from the upstairs gallery of fans where Saints
were well represented.
Presenters included ex-Dragons Steve Edge ,
John
Raper, Norm Provan and Graeme 'Changa' Langlands.
Saints sign Wigan half back Willie Peters.
Jersey Flegg team gets within one game of the
grand final only to be knocked out by Canterbury. The 1st Division
team was knocked out in the first round of the semis.
Grand Final decider will be between Roosters (Sydney)
and Broncos (Brisbane) with Broncos being favourite. The Grand final has
been brought forward one month so as to accommodate the Sydney 2000
Olympics.
REF
REPORT
SAINTS RECORD UNDER REFS IN 2000:
|
REF
|
DETAILS |
AVERAGE SCORE / 10
|
|
Tim Mander
|
6 games (2 wins, 4 losses) Score/10: 5 +
6 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 0 = 24/60 |
4
|
|
Matt Hewitt
|
1 game (1 win) Score/10: 1/10 |
1
|
|
Sean Hampstead
|
5 games (3 wins, 2 losses) Score/10: 7 +
6 + 3 + 5 + 1 = 22/50 |
4½
|
|
Bill Harrigan
|
4 games (1 win, 3 losses) Score/10: 4 + 2
+ 1 + 2 = 9/40 |
2¼
|
|
Paul Simpkins
|
2 games (1 win, 1 loss) Score/10: 4 + 6 =
10/20 |
5
|
|
Mark Oaten
|
4 games (1 win, 3 losses) Score/10: 7 + 6½
+ 3 + 7½ = 24/40 |
6
|
|
Steven Clark
|
4 games (3 wins, 1 loss) Score/10: 5 + 2
+ 5 + 8 = 20/40 |
5
|
Matt Hewitt was there just to make up the numbers and doesn't
really count on a one match rating. It's also too hard to seriously rate
Paul Simpkins who put in just 2 games.
As for the rest, make your own judgement. Sean Hampstead
was dropped for a couple of weeks as punishment from his bosses after he
put in a few poor performances. Overall though, he did a better job than
the glamour boys who seem to be in favour with the NRL. After crawling
through the muck (aka research), we decided that poor old Sean was given
the scape-goat treatment so the NRL could show that they were doing something
about the terrible standards of refereeing which we had the misfortune
to witness throughout season 2000. If they drop Hampstead then surely,
Harrigan and Mander should have been given the chop as well but it wasn't
to be - I guess that's politics.
Given the opportunity with 4 matches, Bill Harrigan showed
us time and time again that he is the worse ref in the competition.
Steven Clark had the best single match performance with
an 8 out of 10 in round 25 but the dark horse was Mark Oaten. Despite the
fact that we lost 3 matches out of 4 under Oaten, he was the best of a
bad bunch with an overall average of 6 out of 10.
All games with ref reports are listed in the
draw.
S.O.T.V
AWARDS 2000
BEST PLAYER: TRENT BARRETT (29 pts)
Runners up: Craig Smith (17 pts), Nathan Brown (15 pts)
BEST FORWARDS: Craig Smith (17 pts), Nathan Brown (15 pts), Luke
Bailey (9 pts), Lance Thompson (9 pts)
BEST BACKS: Trent Barrett (29 pts), Shaun Timmins (13 pts),
Nathan Blacklock (11 pts)
BEST ROOKIES: Amos Roberts (4 pts), Luke Branighan (1 pt)
(Best players points taken from our team
2000 page and awarded after each match)
Coincidentially, Trent Barrett was also recognised
as Dally M 'player of the year' winning the medal with 28 points.
Also, Amos Roberts and Luke Branighan were both nominated
for Dally M 'rookie of the year'
It was no surprise to see Nathan Blacklock win the
'best winger' award alongside the Dally M 'top try scorer' award.
For
more on the Dally M Awards, (pics and sound) click here |
TOP TRY SCORER: Nathan Blacklock
(25 tries - NRL top try scorer for 2 yrs. Only achieved
once before by Ken Irvine in the 1970s)
NB: Blacklock is the only player in history to score
more than 20 tries in 3 consecutive seasons.
TOP GOAL SCORER: Wayne Bartrim (50 goals)
TOP POINTS SCORER: Nathan Blacklock (25 tries + 12 goals = 124
points)
MOST MATCHES: 3 players never missed a game: Trent
Barrett (26), Nathan Blacklock (26), Nathan Brown (26)
SAINTS ON TV MOST VALUABLE PLAYERS:
1st: Trent Barrett / Nathan Brown (dead heat), 3rd: Nathan
Blacklock, 4th: Craig Smith
SAINTS ON TV MOST POPULAR PLAYERS:
1st: Wes Patten, 2nd: Nathan Blacklock, 3rd: Nathan Brown,
4th: Amos Roberts
SAINTS ON TV BEST CLUB MEN:
1st: Nathan Brown, 2nd: Colin
Ward, 3rd: Wayne Bartrim, 4th: Lance Thompson
SAINTS ON TV TEAM OF THE YEAR:
Fullback: Amos
Roberts
Wingers: Nathan
Blacklock, Lee
Hookey
Centres: Jamie
Ainscough, Shaun
Timmins
Five Eighth: Trent
Barrett
Half back: Luke
Branighan
Lock: Wayne
Bartrim
2nd Row: Darren
Treacy, Lance
Thompson
Prop Forwards: Luke
Bailey, Craig
Smith
Hooker: Nathan
Brown (c)
Interchange: Wes
Patten, Andrew
Hart, Corey
Pearson, Jason
Hooper
NB: In answer to emails regarding
Mundine: All bets are off when any player shoots through - Mundine is out
of contention.
|
