2010 St. George Illawarra Dragons season

Last updated

2010 St. George Illawarra Dragons season
NRL champions
NRL Rank1st
2010 recordWins: 17; draws: 0; losses: 7
Points scoredFor: 591; against: 319
Team information
CEO Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Doust
Coach Flag of Australia (converted).svg Wayne Bennett
Assistant coach Flag of Australia (converted).svg Steve Price
Captain
Stadium WIN Jubilee Oval WIN Stadium
Top scorers
Tries Brett Morris (20)
Goals Jamie Soward (84)
Points Jamie Soward (197)
  2009 2011  

The 2010 St. George Illawarra Dragons season was the 12th in the joint venture club's history. They competed in the National Rugby League's 2010 Telstra Premiership, securing their second successive minor premiership. The Dragons went on to compete in the 2010 NRL Grand Final, defeating the Sydney Roosters to gain the club's first premiership since their formation as a joint venture club in 1999.

Contents

Season summary

Restarting their ambitions of a maiden Premiership, the Dragons began the 2010 season without dual international Wendell Sailor after the winger announced his retirement during the pre-season. [1] The Dragons had been competition favourites since day one of the 2010 season, and for all but three rounds of the entire regular season were on top of the ladder (the Sydney Roosters were on top after rounds 1 and 2 and the Melbourne Storm were on top after round 4, when they defeated the Dragons 17-4).

In the regular season of 2010, the Dragons lost only seven matches, against Melbourne in round 4, Manly in round 9, Canberra in rounds 11 and 24, Penrith in round 17, the Gold Coast in extra time in round 20 and Brisbane in round 21. The Dragons built their season on defence and when they finished the regular season, they became only the 2nd team in the NRL to concede less than 300 points in a season. 299 points were scored against them at an average of 12.4 points per game. The St George Illawarra Dragons headed into the week one of the finals and had a great victory against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles winning 28 - 0. After the week off the St George Illawarra Dragons faced the Wests Tigers in the preliminary final and won 13 - 12. The Dragons then faced the Sydney Roosters in the NRL Telstra Premiership Grand Final and despite trailing 6–8 at halftime they scored 26 unanswered points in a wet second half to win 32-8 and secure the first NRL Premiership for the joint venture.

A major coup for the club was the re-signing of former captain and star centre Mark Gasnier following his stint in French rugby union.

Pre-season

DateRoundOpponentVenueScoreAttendanceReport
14 FebruaryTrial Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels Members Equity Stadium, Perth 34 209,450
20 FebruaryMercury Challenge Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs WIN Stadium, Wollongong 16 14
27 February Charity Shield South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs ANZ Stadium, Sydney 26 2627,221
Legend:   Win  Loss  Draw

Regular season

DateRoundOpponentVenueScoreAttendanceReport
12 March1 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels Parramatta Stadium, Parramatta 18 1218,293
19 March2 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs WIN Stadium, Wollongong 26 616,177
26 March3 North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys WIN Stadium, Wollongong 33 813,267
2 April4 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm Etihad Stadium, Melbourne 4 1725,480
9 April5 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos WIN Stadium, Wollongong 34 1615,374
16 April6 Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast Titans Skilled Park, Gold Coast 19 621,336
25 April7 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney 28 636,212
1 May8 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks WIN Stadium, Wollongong 38 015,779
8 May9 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Brookvale Oval, Manly 6 2416,745
14 May10 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs ANZ Stadium, Sydney 19 637,773
23 May11 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders WIN Stadium, Wollongong 14 2214,728
28 May12 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah 30 015,068
6 June13 New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand Warriors Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland 22 208,312
14
20 June15 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Toyota Stadium, Cronulla 22 416,773
25 June16 Wests Tigers colours.svg Wests Tigers WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah 34 1016,574
5 July17 Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2020 colours.svg Penrith Panthers WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah 8 1212,974
18
16 July19 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs ANZ Stadium, Sydney 16 1322,368
23 July20 Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast Titans WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah 10 1112,688
1 August21 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 6 1042,269
8 August22 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney 19 1237,994
16 August23 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah 32 1014,740
22 August24 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Canberra Stadium, Canberra 16 3220,445
28 August25 Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle Knights EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle 26 1823,148
5 September26 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah 38 2418,274
Legend:   Win  Loss  Draw  Bye

Finals

DateRoundOpponentVenueScoreAttendanceReport
12 SeptemberQualifying Final Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah 28 015,574
25 SeptemberPreliminary Final Wests Tigers colours.svg Wests Tigers ANZ Stadium, Sydney 13 1271,212
3 OctoberGrand Final Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters ANZ Stadium, Sydney 32 882,334
Legend:   Win  Loss  Draw

2010 NRL Ladder

Pos.TeamPldWDLBPFPAPDPts
1 St. George colours.svg St. George Illawarra Dragons (P)2417072518299+21938
2 Panthers colours.svg Penrith Panthers 2415092645489+15634
3 Wests Tigers colours.svg Wests Tigers 2415092537503+3434
4 Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast Titans 2415092520498+2234
5 New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand Warriors 24140102539486+5332
6 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters 24140102559510+4932
7 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders 24130112499493+630
8 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 24120122545510+3528
9 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs 24110132584567+1726
10 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos 24110132508535−2726
11 Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle Knights 24100142499569−7024
12 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels 24100142413491−7824
13 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2490152494539−4522
14 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2470172354609−25518
15 North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys 2450192425667−24214
16 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 24140102489363+12601

1 Melbourne were deducted eight premiership points and barred from receiving premiership points for the rest of the season due to gross long-term salary cap breaches. [2]

Squad

No.PositionPlayer

1 Darius Boyd FB 2 Brett Morris WG 3 Matt Cooper CE 4 Mark Gasnier CE 5 Jason Nightingale WG 6 Jamie Soward FE (GK)7 Ben Hornby (captain) HB 8 Dan Hunt PR 9 Dean Young HK (VC)10 Michael Weyman PR 11 Beau Scott SR 12 Ben Creagh SR 13 Jeremy Smith LK

No.PositionPlayer

Nathan Fien HK Neville Costigan SR Matt Prior SR Jarrod Saffy SR Trent Merrin PR Michael Greenfield PR Nick Emmett CE Luke Priddis HK Jon Green PR Kyle Stanley FE Ricky Thorby PR Peni Tagive WG Michael Lett WG

*VC - Vice Captain*GK - Goal Kicker

Transfers

Gains

PlayerGained From
Michael Greenfield South Sydney Rabbitohs
Peni Tagive Wests Tigers
Junior Paulo Parramatta Eels
Mark Gasnier Stade Français

Losses

PlayerLost To
Mickey Paea Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs
Justin Poore Parramatta Eels
Wendell Sailor Retirement
Chase Stanley Melbourne Storm
Dean Whare Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

References

  1. Warren, Adrian (12 November 2009). "Wendell Sailor announces his retirement from rugby league". Fox Sports . Retrieved 15 November 2009.
  2. Stuart Honeysett and Brent Read (23 April 2010) Shocking end to the Melbourne Storm era The Australian