2008 St. George Illawarra Dragons season

NRL Telstra Premiership

Having failed to bring the club a premiership during his current tenure with the Dragons and coming off contract at the end of the year, Coach

The club received a boost in May when former

The Dragons new winger Wendell Sailor made his NRL return in this match also sustaining a minor cheekbone injury. The club also signed South Sydney Rabbitohs player Ben Rogers from an immediate release to join the Dragons on 12 June but released Jason Ryles from his contract to join the Catalans Dragons in the Super League for 2009.^[1] Days later they signed New Zealand international and Melbourne Storm player Jeremy Smith for three seasons.

Their 7-game winning streak came to an end in Round 18 when they were defeated by the

After 1 win in their last 5 games, the Dragons defeated the

being eliminated from the Finals series due to their lowly position in the Top 8.

The club went on a 'signing spree' purchasing Neville Costigan, Darius Boyd and Luke Priddis among others, but lost flyer Josh Morris (Bulldogs), Mark Gasnier (French Rugby), Jason Ryles (French league), Rangi Chase (ESL), Lagi Setu (Broncos) and Simon Woolford & Kirk Reynoldson with retirement.

Position	Pld	Won	Drew	Lost	Bye	Points For	Points Against	Points Differential
7th (of 16)	24	13	0	11	2	489	378	111

2008 Match results

*From Round 5 onwards, all games are in

AEST

.

Round	Home	Score	Away	Match Information
				Date and Time	Venue
Trial	St. George Illawarra Dragons	40-30	Bulldogs	23 February 2008, 7:30pm AEDT	WIN Stadium
CS	St. George Illawarra Dragons	20-24	South Sydney Rabbitohs	1 March 2008, 8:00pm AEDT	ANZ Stadium
1	Wests Tigers	24-16	St. George Illawarra Dragons	16 March 2008, 3:00pm AEDT	Sydney Football Stadium
2	St. George Illawarra Dragons	30-12	Gold Coast Titans	24 March 2008, 7:00pm AEDT	WIN Stadium
3	Canberra Raiders	21-14	St. George Illawarra Dragons	29 March 2008, 7:30pm AEDT	Canberra Stadium
4	St. George Illawarra Dragons	16-18	Cronulla Sharks	5 April 2008, 5:30pm AEDT	ANZ Stadium
5	St. George Illawarra Dragons	16-20	North Queensland Cowboys	12 April 2008, 5:30pm	WIN Stadium
6	Bulldogs	30-18	St. George Illawarra Dragons	19 April 2008, 5:30pm	ANZ Stadium
7	St. George Illawarra Dragons	26-6	Sydney Roosters	25 April 2008, 3:15pm	ANZ Stadium
8		BYE
9	Parramatta Eels	19-18	St. George Illawarra Dragons	11 May 2008, 3:00pm	ANZ Stadium
10	St. George Illawarra Dragons	36-12	Melbourne Storm	17 May 2008, 7:30pm	ANZ Stadium
11	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	18-20	St. George Illawarra Dragons	23 May 2008, 7:45pm	Brookvale Oval
12	South Sydney Rabbitohs	12-26	St. George Illawarra Dragons	1 June 2008, 2:00pm	ANZ Stadium
13	St. George Illawarra Dragons	28-10	Brisbane Broncos	6 June 2008, 7:45pm	WIN Stadium
14		BYE
15	St. George Illawarra Dragons	13-12	Penrith Panthers	20 June 2008, 7:45pm	ANZ Stadium
16	Gold Coast Titans	22-26	St. George Illawarra Dragons	28 June 2008, 5:30pm	Skilled Park
17	Newcastle Knights	16-24	St. George Illawarra Dragons	5 July 2008, 7:30pm	EnergyAustralia Stadium
18	St. George Illawarra Dragons	12-19	Canberra Raiders	13 July 2008, 2:00pm	WIN Stadium
19	Melbourne Storm	26-0	St. George Illawarra Dragons	21 July 2008, 7:00pm	Olympic Park Stadium
20	St. George Illawarra Dragons	30-0	Bulldogs	28 July 2008, 7:00pm	ANZ Stadium
21	Cronulla Sharks	13-12	St. George Illawarra Dragons	2 August 2008, 5:30pm	Toyota Park
22	St. George Illawarra Dragons	10-18	Wests Tigers	8 August 2008, 7:35pm	WIN Stadium
23	Brisbane Broncos	20-24	St. George Illawarra Dragons	15 August 2008, 7:35pm	Suncorp Stadium
24	St. George Illawarra Dragons	34-6	New Zealand Warriors	24 August 2008, 3:00pm	WIN Stadium
25	St. George Illawarra Dragons	40-14	Parramatta Eels	30 September 2008, 7:30pm	ANZ Stadium
26	Sydney Roosters	10-0	St. George Illawarra Dragons	5 September 2008, 7:35pm	Sydney Football Stadium
QF	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	38-6	St. George Illawarra Dragons	13 September 2008, 8:30pm	Brookvale Oval

Ladder

2008 NRL season v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Melbourne Storm	24	17	0	7	2	584	282	+302	38
2	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (P)	24	17	0	7	2	645	355	+290	38
3	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	17	0	7	2	451	384	+67	38
4	Sydney Roosters	24	15	0	9	2	511	446	+65	34
5	Brisbane Broncos	24	14	1	9	2	560	452	+108	33
6	Canberra Raiders	24	13	0	11	2	640	527	+113	30
7	St George Illawarra Dragons	24	13	0	11	2	489	378	+111	30
8	New Zealand Warriors	24	13	0	11	2	502	567	-65	30
9	Newcastle Knights	24	12	0	12	2	516	486	+30	28
10	Wests Tigers	24	11	0	13	2	528	560	-32	26
11	Parramatta Eels	24	11	0	13	2	501	547	-46	26
12	Penrith Panthers	24	10	1	13	2	504	611	-107	25
13	Gold Coast Titans	24	10	0	14	2	476	586	-110	24
14	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	8	0	16	2	453	666	-213	20
15	North Queensland Cowboys	24	5	0	19	2	474	638	-164	14
16	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	5	0	19	2	433	782	-349	14

Gains and Losses

Gains

Player	Previous Club
Kirk Reynoldson	Newcastle Knights
Stuart Webb	South Sydney Rabbitohs
Ben Rogers (mid-season)	South Sydney Rabbitohs
Jon Green	Bulldogs
Jarrod Saffy	Wests Tigers
Jardine Bobongie	North Sydney Bears
Joe Falemaka	North Sydney Bears

Losses

Player	Joined Club
Wes Naiqama	Newcastle Knights
Danny Wicks	Newcastle Knights
Chris Houston	Newcastle Knights
Keith Lulia	Newcastle Knights
Ashton Sims	Brisbane Broncos
Tom Hewitt	Brisbane Broncos
Corey Payne	Wests Tigers
Adam Peek	Cronulla Sharks
Charlie Leaeno	Bulldogs

First Grade Signed Players

St George Illawarra Dragons has 31 signed players in first grade that play in the main competition.

No. Position Player Jardine Bobongie – LK Rangi Chase – SR Matt Cooper – CE Ben Creagh – SR Ben Ellis – HK Joe Falemaka – PR Mark Gasnier (captain) – CE Jon Green – PR Mark Hendy – CE Ben Hornby – HB Dan Hunt – PR Michael Lett – WG Brett Morris – FB Josh Morris – WG Jason Nightingale – WG Justin Poore – PR

No. Position Player Matt Prior – SR Alex Ranieri – HK Kirk Reynoldson – SR Jason Ryles – PR Jarrod Saffy – SR Frank Samia – CE Wendell Sailor – WG Beau Scott – SR Lagi Setu – LK Jamie Soward – FE Chase Stanley – CE Ricky Thorby – PR Stuart Webb – LK Simon Woolford – HK Dean Young – HK

Team Lineup

Line up for the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

:
Saturday, 13 September 2008 at 8:30pm AEST at

• Last 9 are currently inactive due to injury, fulfilling other commitments, being used as "spares" or playing in lower grades. e.g.
  Toyota Cup
  .

National Youth Competition (Toyota Cup Under 20s)

The Dragons U20s side were strong off from the start. For the Toyota Cup inaugural season, the Dragons Under-20s Side is coached by Steven Price. Before the regular season began, the Dragons won a Toyota Cup Trial match against the Bulldogs down at

Toyota Cup signed players

The following 34 players are signed with the St. George Illawarra Dragons for the Toyota Cup.

Toyota Cup lineup

This is the Dragons' Toyota Cup weekly lineup.
Lineup for the Preliminary Finals vs. Canberra Raiders:
Friday, 26 September 2008 at 5:30 pm AEST at the Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney.

• 1 Interchange player to be omitted before game.
• Last 6 are currently inactive due to injury, fulfilling other commitments, being used as "spares" or playing in the
  S.G. Ball Cup
  .

Ladder

2008 Toyota Cup season v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Canberra Raiders (P)	24	18	0	6	2	744	581	+163	40
2	Brisbane Broncos	24	15	1	8	2	684	476	+208	35
3	New Zealand Warriors	24	14	3	7	2	721	533	+188	35
4	Penrith Panthers	24	15	1	8	2	692	583	+109	35
5	Parramatta Eels	24	14	3	7	2	578	564	+14	35
6	St George Illawarra Dragons	24	13	2	9	2	561	520	+41	32
7	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	12	3	9	2	711	587	+124	31
8	Gold Coast Titans	24	13	1	10	2	686	567	+119	31
9	Wests Tigers	24	13	0	11	2	620	623	-3	30
10	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	11	2	11	2	618	584	+34	28
11	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	24	11	0	13	2	519	532	-13	26
12	Newcastle Knights	24	8	1	15	2	526	630	-104	21
13	Melbourne Storm	24	8	1	15	2	512	638	-126	21
14	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	6	1	17	2	394	666	-272	17
15	Sydney Roosters	24	6	0	18	2	480	721	-241	16
16	North Queensland Cowboys	24	4	3	17	2	455	696	-241	15

References