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1997-1999
1997: SUPER LEAGUE
AND ARL SPLIT INTO TWO COMPETITIONS
In
1997, the biggest upheaval in the game's history, a separate
'breakaway' competition was formed. Called 'Super League',
the organisers promised a world wide Rugby League competition.
However, the reality was two smaller competitions and the
loss of many supporters to the game as fans became disillusioned.
As the 'Super League
War' intensified, star players became hot property and the
salary cap became a non-issue. Player's were being offered
more money than ever before and at times, the competition
for signatures became controversial to say the least. The
majority of Sydney clubs, including St George remained with
the Australian Rugby League (ARL). However, many club's
playing ranks were stripped and once again, St George faced
an uncertain future.
1998:
NRL FORMED
In
1998, an apparent reconciliation, the Super League competition
has been scrapped and a new combined competition, the National
Rugby League (NRL) is formed. The revised format sees a
return to the massive 20 team competition which existed
in 1995 and 1996. Two teams, Melbourne Storm (brand new)
and Adelaide Rams (from Super League) join while South Queensland
Crushers (ARL), Hunter Mariners (SL) and the Western Reds
(SL) have been cut from the new competition.
The ARL will continue
to exist as the administrative body for international matches.
The New South Wales
Rugby League (NSWRL) will control the First Division competition
(in place of Reserve Grade) and the Queensland Rugby League
(QRL) will control the Queensland Cup. The Country Rugby
League (CRL) will continue as the body responsible for regional
Group competitions.
1997:
Tallis (left) presents Mundine with a
cake as Bennett (right) looks on
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Without
notice and without his manager, Saints five
eighth Anthony Mundine was flown
up to Brisbane for discussions with Broncos'
officials. He appeared on national television
with Brisbane coach, Wayne Bennett
to announce that he has signed a deal with
the Super League franchise for 1997.
In an extraordinary display,
ex-St George forward, Gorden
Tallis emerged from a side door and
presented Mundine with a birthday cake. |
 WAV
(317 Kb) click on the speaker to hear
David Waite
"One of the most vulgar
things I've seen in football..." - Coach
David Waite |
HISTORY
SPOT
TONY BULLIMORE SEA RESCUE
|
Dragons
sign Nathan Blacklock
St George
have signed Nathan Blacklock after
the winger was discarded by Easts. Nathan
originally hails from the small town of
Tingha, NSW. |
STEELERS
DEFEAT ST GEORGE
Kogarah, 22 June 1997: Illawarra
have scored three tries to two to down the Dragons
12-10 in front of 7,257 people.
The Steelers reached 6th position
in 1997 and made the semi finals. St George finished
in 10th position and out of the top seven.
STEELERS
KNOCKED OUT BY GOLD COAST
Parramatta, 5 September 1997:
Illawarra's semi finals campaign came to an abrupt
halt when they were downed 25-14 (five tries to
three) by the Gold Coast in front of 8,197 people.
ARL & SL MEET
With the 1997
seasons over with, the Australian Rugby League and
Super League organisations have met with the view
of forming a new joint competition in 1998. |
1997
(top 7 in semis)
| Manly |
32 |
| Newcastle
p |
29 |
| Parramatta |
29 |
| Norths |
27 |
| Easts |
27 |
| Illawarra |
23 |
| Gold
Coast |
21 |
| Balmain |
20 |
| Wests |
20 |
| St
George |
19 |
| Souths |
9
|
| South
Qld |
8
|
(22
ROUNDS)
Saints
'97 record
Win
Loss Draw
9W, 12L,
1D
Pts for/against
For 331 (10th)
Against 392
(8th)
Steelers
'97 record
Win
Loss Draw
10W, 9L,
3D
Pts for/against
For 423 (7th)
Against 376
(7th)
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1998:
|
DRAGONS
WELCOME BACK MUNDINE
The
Dragons have welcomed back Anthony Mundine
(pic left) from Brisbane reportedly
signing him for $600,000 per year. By season's
end, Mundine was voted player's player.
SAINTS
GO DOWN TO C'BURY IN KOGARAH SUDDEN DEATH
SEMI
Kogarah, 29 August 1998:
Hosting a semi final match at Kogarah
wasn't enough for Saints who were defeated
by |
Canterbury
20-12 in front of 16,833 people.
It was a tremendous match
for the packed crowd but it also had it's
fair share of controversy after several
questionable decisions had gone against
the Dragons, including referee Steven Clark
allowing a forward pass to go unchecked
resulting in a try to the Bulldogs in the
21st minute. Clark
claimed he had a bucket of spit poured over
him as he left the field.
Saints dominated the match
early on with tries to Darren Treacy
(pic right) & Nathan Blacklock
to race away to a 12-0 lead but Canterbury
fought back and eventually ran out winners.
Coming into the semis, Saints
were positioned 8th on the ladder.
MINOR PRELIMINARY SEMI
FINAL, ST GEORGE v CANTERBURY - STATS: |
|
St
George 14 (Treacy, Blacklock tries. Murphy 2/2 goals)
defeated by
Canterbury 20 (Halligan, Silva, Marteene
tries. Halligan 4/5 goals)
5th minute: St. George 6-0 (Treacy
try, Murphy goal).
11th minute: St. George 12-0 (Blacklock
try, Murphy goal).
21st minute: St. George 12-6 (Halligan
try, goal).
26th minute: St. George 12-8 (Halligan
goal).
30th minute: Canterbury 14-12 (Silva
try, Halligan goal).
Half time: Canterbury lead 14-12.
75th minute: Canterbury 20-12 (Marteene
try, Halligan goal).
Full time: Canterbury won 20-12.
St. George
Dragons, team 29 August 1998:
1. Lee Murphy 2. Adrian Brunker
3. Mark Coyne 20. Jim Lenihan 5. Nathan Blacklock
6. Anthony Mundine 7. Matthew Rodwell 3. Jeff Hardy
12. Lance Thompson 11. Darren Treacy 10. Luke
Felsch 9. Nathan Brown 8. Corey Pearson |
1998
(top 9 in semis
-playoff for 9th)
(Sth Qld gone)
| Brisbane
p |
37 |
| Newcastle |
37 |
| Melbourne |
35 |
| Parramatta |
35 |
| Norths |
34 |
| Easts |
32 |
| Canberra |
30 |
| St
George |
27 |
| Canterbury |
26 |
| Manly |
26 |
| Cronulla |
25 |
| Illawarra |
23 |
| Balmain |
19 |
| Penrith |
18 |
| Auckland |
18 |
| North
Qld |
18 |
| Adelaide |
14 |
| Souths |
10 |
| Gold
Coast |
8
|
| Wests |
8
|
(24
ROUNDS)
Saints
'98 record
Win
Loss Draw
13W, 10L,
1D
Pts for/against
For 486 (10th)
Against 490
(12th)
Steelers
'98 record
Win
Loss Draw
11W, 12L,
1D
Pts for/against
For 476 (11th)
Against 539
(14th)
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Interchange:
14. Colin Ward 15. Robbie Simpson 16. Ben Kusto 17. Joel
Caine
Coach: David Waite
Changes: Lenihan for 4. Jamie Ainscough.
18. Andrew Tangata-Toa and 19. Craig Stapleton
were omitted from the bench.
Nathan Blacklock is club's top
try scorer
Winger Nathan Blacklock
has topped the club's try scoring list with 20 tries.
ST GEORGE & ILLAWARRA
CONFIRM THAT TEAMS WILL MERGE INTO A DRAGONS JOINT VENTURE
September 1998: The separate club boards
of St George and Illawarra met and confirmed that the two
entities would merge into one joint venture as of 1999.
This is recognised as being Rugby League's first ever merger.
The supporters were given the following understandings:
The squad of 25 players would have 13 from
St George and 12 from Illawarra.
The captaincy in the short term shall be joint
controlled with one player from each club being designated
co-captain.
The co-coaches shall be David Waite
and Andrew Farrar.
The St George jersey with the red vee shall
be retained as will the name the Dragons. Sock and shorts
will resemble the Steelers old design.
All juniors will be shared.
Illawarra shall receive much needed funding
from St George.
The team will play approximately half their
home games in the St George district and the other half
in the Wollongong district.
Both St George and Illawarra shall retain
their district first division sides.
The team shall be officially known as 'The
St George - Illawarra Dragons.'
WAV
(194 Kb) click
on speaker to hear Mark Coyne talk about the merger.
1999:
NEW
LOOK DRAGONS RE-UNITES WITH BRAD MACKAY
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St
George junior, Brad Mackay has re-united
with the Dragons. He left St George for
the Western Reds in 1994. After the Reds'
demise, he linked up with Illawarra and
then did the full circle with the creation
of the joint venture. Full team, click
on pic left (112
Kb) |
SAINTS
& PARRA PLAY AT STADIUM AUSTRALIA
104,000
SEE LAUNCH OF NEW STADIUM
Stadium
Australia Homebush, 6 March 1999: A
massive crowd of 104,583 were on hand to
see Rugby League's double header and Saints
and Parramatta begin their seasons at the
brand new Olympic facility, Stadium Australia.
Darren
Treacy became the first try scorer for the
new joint venture but victory on the night
went to Parramatta 20-10. |
Pic above: National anthem at Stadium Australia
with Brad Mackay (front) flanked by Paul
McGregor, Lance Thompson, Trent Barrett. |
|
1999
(top 8 in semis)
(Gold Coast
gone)
| Cronulla |
40 |
| Parramatta |
38 |
| Melbourne
p |
36 |
| Easts |
36 |
| Canterbury |
35 |
| St
George Illawarra Dragons |
34 |
| Newcastle |
33 |
| Brisbane |
32 |
| Canberra |
31 |
| Penrith |
27 |
| Auckland |
24 |
| Souths |
24 |
| Manly |
23 |
| Norths |
20 |
| Balmain |
20 |
| North
Qld |
13 |
| Wests |
10 |
(26
ROUNDS)
Saints
'99 record
Win
Loss Draw Bye
15W, 9L,
0D, 2B
Pts for/against
For 588 (3rd)
Against 416 (6th)
|
 |
SAINTS
& CANBERRA IN THRILLER
BARTRIM CONVERSION
SEES SAINTS 1ST VICTORY OF 1999
Bruce Stadium,
20 March 1999: A dramatic try to Rod Wishart
and late conversion to Wayne Bartrim has
seen the Dragons pull off their first win of the
year by 16-14 in front of a crowd of 11,096. Saints
had previously lost their opening two rounds.
With just minutes
remaining, Nathan Brown put up a cross field
bomb and found Wishart leaping high to score out
wide. Bartrim lined up the conversion and slotted
the difficult kick to give Saints a two point victory. |
BARRY
BEATH SHOWS THE PASSION
Woolaware, April
1999: In a highly publicised incident, St George legend
Barry Beath was involved in a punch up at Cronulla
Leagues Club.
The former forward stepped
in when Cronulla Chief Executive, Peter Gow attacked
a young St George supporter with scissors and proceeded
to cut up his Dragons jersey. Stunned onlookers reported
that the incident was without provocation and that Gow was
acting in an 'uncontrolled manner'.
Barry copped a punch
in the face for his troubles but Gow was later forced to
resign after investigations found that he defaced a St George
jersey and assaulted a club patron.
DRAGONS MOST EXCITING
TEAM OF 1999 In 1999, the
Dragons almost pulled off a remarkable year when they made
the semi-finals and appeared unstoppable as they suddenly
hit top form. Without a doubt, they were the team to watch
throughout the
season
as they posted some dramatic wins on the back on
some excellent attacking play. Coming into the semis,
Saints were in 6th position. They swept through
the semis with wins over Melbourne (34-10), Easts
(28-18) and Cronulla (24-8). They went into the
Grand Final as favourites having defeated their
opponents, Melbourne twice throughout the year.
In fact, since joining the competition in 1998,
Melbourne had never beaten St George and they appeared
to be a team which had already exceeded their expectations
by making the Grand Final.
As the forwards dominated their opponents,
the backs let loose. Stand outs included
Jamie Ainscough (pic right), Nathan
Blacklock who was the competition's leading
try scorer, and Anthony Mundine who often
showed a tremendous turn of speed to devastate his
opponents. |
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SAINTS
LOSE GRAND FINAL 20-18
RECORD CROWD 107,000
- CONTROVERSIAL FINISH
Stadium Australia, 26 September 1999: In
what was perhaps the most controversial Grand Final in living
memory, Saints have lost the lead and the match just minutes
from full time courtesy of a penalty try.
The first half belonged to the Dragons with
a try to Craig Fitzgibbon and a brilliant 70 metre
solo try to
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Nathan
Blacklock (pic left). Blacklock showed
his class from the stand-in position of fullback
when Storm half back, Brett Kimmorley thought he
saw Blacklock standing too deep and he decided to
chip-kick ahead. Dramatically, Blacklock swooped
on the bouncing ball on his 30 metre line and within
the space of a second was bursting through for an
unopposed run to the line - bringing the crowd of
107,999 to it's feet.
At half time Saints were dominating
and it was 14-nil.
Melbourne came out in the second half
all fired up and got back to 14-6 down. A try to
Paul McGregor put Dragons up by 18-6 and
with 20 minutes to go, Dragons supporters could
almost touch the trophy.
However, in an incredible turn of
events, Saints let their grasp slip as Melbourne
were given almost free rein by referee Bill Harrigan.
While there is no disputing the match winning penalty
try and Storm's ability to get back into the match,
supporters were alarmed by the high rate of referee
errors which favoured Melbourne in the second half. |
The
final controversy was heart breaking for Saints supporters
when the referee correctly ruled a head
high
tackle against Jamie Ainscough on Smith who
would have scored. The subsequent penalty try saw
the Storm with a conversion right in front and a
two point victory. Afterwards, there was barely
enough time for the kickoff.
StGeorge-Illawarra Dragons 18
(Fitzgibbon, McGregor, Blacklock tries.
Bartrim 2/3, Fitzgibbon 1/1 goals)
Melbourne Storm 20
(Martin, Roarty tries + Smith penalty
try. Smith 3/4, Geyer 1/1 goals)
Referee:
Bill Harrigan |
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TEAMS
ST GEORGE-ILLAWARRA
DRAGONS
Luke
PATTEN, Nathan BLACKLOCK, Paul McGREGOR (c),
Shaun TIMMINS,
Jamie AINSCOUGH, Anthony MUNDINE, Trent BARRETT,
Wayne BARTRIM, Lance THOMPSON, Darren TREACY, Craig
SMITH (c), Nathan BROWN, Chris LEIKVOLL
Interchange:
Craig FITZGIBBON, Colin WARD, Brad MACKAY, Rod WISHART. |
HISTORY
SPOT
EAST TIMOR FIGHTS FOR INDEPENDENCE
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Coach:
David WAITE & Andrew FARRAR
MELBOURNE STORM
Robbie
ROSS, Craig SMITH, Aaron MOULE, Tony MARTIN, Marcus
BAI, Matt GEYER, Brett KIMMORLEY, Tawera NIKAU,
Stephen KEARNEY, Paul MARQUET, Rodney HOWE, Richard
SWAIN, Glenn LAZARUS (c), Interchange Matt RUA,
Russell BAWDEN, Ben ROARTY, Danny WILLIAMS
Coach: Chris
ANDERSON |
HISTORY
SPOT
AUSTRALIA VOTES ON A REPUBLIC
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WHEN
THEY SCORED:
14min Dragons 6-0 (C
Fitzgibbon try, W Bartrim goal) 23min Dragons 8-0 (C Fitzgibbon
goal) 30min Dragons 14-0 (N Blacklock try, W Bartrim goal)
42min Dragons 14-2 (C
Smith goal) 54min Dragons
14-6 (T Martin try) 56min Dragons18-6 (P McGregor try) 58min
Dragons 18-12 (B Roarty try, C Smith goal) 64min Dragons
18-14 (C Smith goal) 77min Storm 20-18 (C Smith penalty
try, M Geyer goal)
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THE 90s: FAXs, VCRs, INTERNET
& ST GEORGE - ILLAWARRA
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Nathan Blacklock
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