Written by: Steven Williams

Its understood that the St George Illawarra Dragons will soon announce a plan which will see them retaining their proud 82 year history.

When the St George Dragons and the Illawarra Steelers merged in 1999 to form Rugby League's first successful joint venture, most sport historians immediately viewed this as a new club and new beginning.

Many Dragons supporters didn't agree and pointed to the St George first grade history, which began in 1921, as being too impressive to simply cast aside.

In all, St George have won 15 premierships including a world record run of 11 premierships in a row between 1956-66.

The Illawarra district with its huge junior base has often been acknowledged as a important factor in the St George success story but as a separate entity, the Illawarra Steelers won no premierships since entering the competition in 1982.

Matters came to a head when in 2001, the lower grade St George Illawarra Dragons won the First Division Grand Final. The club promoted this as being 'the first Dragons premiers' - a sentiment that didn't go down well with many Dragons' supporters.

Early last month, the matter was put on the agenda with officials coming to the view that there was probably room to bring together the history of the two clubs, thereby retaining the Dragons' past 15 premierships.

The announcement is expected to be well received.

In recent times, Dragons' fans have welcomed news of improvements at WIN Stadium Wollongong, a return to Kogarah Jubilee Oval for five games in 2003 and a new coaching team headed by popular former player, Nathan Brown - all have all been viewed in a positive light by the majority of supporters.