2001 better than 2000
The problems which plagued the team in 2000 were gone for the most part. In 2000, we had to contend with player and club in-fighting, the Mundine saga and a mounting injury list. It was no surprise when the team failed to make the semis. In comparison, 2001 saw a big improvement all round but it  wasn't without it's dramas

A positive start and then Brown retires

Nathan Brown

The year started off on a positive note with the St George Dragons being inducted into the SCG Hall of Fame in January. In February, St George won the Oztag Tournament (Touch Footy), a competition which featured legendary players like Graeme Wynn, Ricky Walford and Mark Coyne. The first bad news of 2001 happened when Dragons' co-captain, Nathan Brown suffered a neck injury in a pre-season trial. Nathan's recovery was welcomed news but tests revealed that he had a congenital problem with his spinal chord and he was forced into early retirement.

Graeme Wynn

The judiciary, part one
In March, Captain Craig Smith was cited by Jim Hall's Match Review Committee following complaints from Melbourne coach, Chris Anderson. The main issue being Smith's running style and in particular, his lifting of the knee. He was suspended by Jim Hall's judiciary for 1 week.  In the same month, Jason Ryles was also cited for a ridiculous 'obstruction' charge and despite evidence to the contrary, the judiciary found him guilty and suspended him for 1 week as well. These were petty charges but it was just the beginning.

The Injuries start to mount
On the injury front, Saints were dealt another blow when Luke Bailey was ruled out for the season with a torn pectoral muscle. This came on top a horrendous run of injuries and at one point, Saints had more than half their team out. Matters became absurd when Jason Hooper was outed for 8 weeks when he partially severed a finger with a power tool in his home. These injuries saw a string of defeats and some supporters were calling for the sacking of coach Andrew Farrar. The club rejected these calls and signed Farrar to a 2 year contract in April.

The judiciary, part two
The judiciary struck again and Saints lost Craig Smith (lifted knee, 2 weeks), Trent Barrett (back slam, 2 weeks) and Wayne Bartrim (sent off for kicking, replays show the ref to be in error, 1 week). The club expressed bewilderment over these suspensions and were concerned enough to present a video dossier of similar petty incidents which go unchecked every week. A number of people are now asking for an overhaul of the current NRL judiciary.

The judiciary, part three and Craig Smith is gone
In May, Craig Smith's future in Australia came under question when he was suspended for 6 weeks following a careless head high tackle. This was Smith's third suspension of the year and he was playing in his first match back following the previous suspension. Smith and the Dragons are now deadlocked in negotiations for Smith's 2002 contract with Smith rejecting Saints offer of incentive payments. Smith confirms rumours that he will be leaving Australia and taking up an offer to play in the UK in 2002. In the same month, Trent Barrett is also suspended (1 week) for a careless head high.
 

Tingha snubbed June: The omission of try scoring machine, Nathan Blacklock from the NSW team in the 2nd State of Origin match caused outrage throughout the footballing community. For the first time ever, Tingha was showing the strain of constant rejection from the selectors and at one point, he was quoted as saying he was ready to quit Rugby League. Lance Thompson Jamie Ainscough and Trent Barrett (later withdrawing through injury) retained their spots in the NSW team while Blacklock gained some reward when he was selected in the Country Origin team along with team mate Jason Ryles. Lance Thompson was honoured with the captaincy of the City Origin team and Mark Gasnier was named in the run on side. Veteran, Colin Ward gained debut rep honours when he was also selected in the City side. Tingha's get out clause In July, Dragons CEO, Peter Doust announces the signing of a number of young but highly rated players for next season but late in the month, it is revealed that Nathan Blacklock has a 'get out clause' in his contract, namely,  if he plays for Australia, he can negotiate with any club. This sends tremors throughout the Dragons community and the club is flooded with emails, faxes and phone calls. Rumours abound that Tingha is looking elsewhere but the matter is settled on August 1st when a new contract is signed thereby securing the star winger until 2004.

The judiciary, part four

Midway through August, Craig Smith is fronting the judiciary again. After the round 23 match, Brisbane coach, Wayne Bennett complains bitterly to the media about the ref and in particular an incident where Brisbane's Kevin Walters is injured. Subsequently, Craig Smith is cited and charged with striking Kevin Walters. The matter receives wide publicity and although it is accidential, the media focusses on the injury to Kevin Walters (broken nose and eye socket) which was caused as both players fell to the ground. Smith is suspended for 6

The judiciary, part five and the Barrett appeal
The judiciary has one final swipe at the Dragons in September when Jim Hall cites Trent Barrett for a late tackle, a nothing  incident which occurred in the 1st minute of a Friday match. It was missed by everyone and didn't even make the charges sheet which was released on the following Monday. However, late in the day, Jim Hall added Barrett's name to the list after the incident 'was brought to his attention.' The nature and timing of this charge throws Saints semi final preparation into disarray.
Barrett fights the charge and is facing 2 weeks on the sideline. However, for once, Jim Hall doesn't have the full support of the judiciary panel and the charge is downgraded with Barrett receiving a 1 week suspension. In another twist, Barrett's advocate, Alan Sullivan then appealed and had the charges dropped. Barrett was completely exonerated and was available to play in a semi final encounter, which Saints won by one point, Trent Barrett being the best player on the field.

Saints in the semis
Saints' NRL season finished the following week when they were defeated by Brisbane but the 1st Division team advanced to the Grand Final and once there, had no trouble of disposing of Parramatta 34-10 to become 2001 Champions.

The Kangaroo Squad Four Dragons were named in the Kangaroo Tour Squad. Wearing the Green and Gold are Trent Barrett and debutantes, Jason Ryles and Mark Gasnier as well as none other than Nathan Blacklock who was named in the run on side to take on the Papua New Guinea Kumuls on October 7th. Tingha finally getting long overdue recognition.  (pic right: Trent Barrett)

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS SEASON 2001:

REF RATINGS:
The referees were given a rating out of 10 after each Saints match.
Average rating, win/draw/loss and individual match ratings are  below:
Tony Archer: Rating = 6.7 (av) 3 matches (W, L, L ), 6 + 6 + 8
Paul Simpkins: rating = 5.1 (av) 8 matches (W, W, D, W, L, L, W, L ), 4 + 7 + 6 + 3 + 6 + 7 + 6 + 2
Sean Hampsead: Rating = 3.7 (av) 3 matches (L, L, W ), 7 + 1 + 3
Tim Mander: Rating = 2.7 (av) 3 matches (W, W, W ), 2 + 3 + 3
Bill Harrigan: Rating = 2.3 (av) 7 matches (L, L, W, L, W, W, L ), 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 + 3 + 5 + 0
Shayne Hayne: Rating = 2.0 (av) 2 matches (L, W ), 1 + 3
In summary:
Even though Tony Archer managed to get the top rating, he really can't compare to Paul Simpkins who maintained an average of better than 5 out of 10 over 8 matches.
Bill Harrigan performed poorly with just 2.3 out of 10 and had 7 matches to do it in.
Tim Mander, coming in 6th overall, is the only ref who Saints had a 100% win record with in 2001.

TEAM STATS SEASON 2001:
After 26 rounds, Saints finished in 7th position and qualified for the semi finals:
12 wins, 2 draws, 12 losses
Points for: 673; Points against: 585
After 2 weeks in the semi finals, Saints completed their season in 6th position:
1 win, 1 loss
Points for: 51; Points against: 66

The team:

NB: For a full list of player's scoring details, go to: Team 2001

SOTV BEST PLAYERS 2001: