2008 St. George Illawarra Dragons season

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 Nathan Brown has had heat on him from 2007 to bring the Dragons up and away from the bottom of the ladder. Since the start of the 2008 season, the Dragons have had, once again, loss after loss which has caused Peter Doust (Dragons CEO), to bring in a new coach in the case of Brisbane Broncos current coach Wayne Bennett for the 2009 season up until 2011. The Dragons started the 2008 season by winning the Mercury Challenge match against the Bulldogs 40–30 at WIN Stadium in Wollongong and winning their first Toyota Cup trial match against Bulldogs at 30–22. The following week the Dragons went down to the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the annual Charity Shield clash 24–20 at ANZ Stadium.

The club received a boost in May when former Union and League (Brisbane Broncos) star Wendell Sailor joined the team after a 2-year ban from professional sport in Australia due to his cocaine controversy. The Dragons started another year with disappointing results when they only won three times after 10 rounds, defeating the Gold Coast Titans in Round 2, the Sydney Roosters in Round 7 and the Melbourne Storm in Round 10 all with terrific results. On 23 May, the Dragons recorded their first back-to-back wins of the season when they defeated the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at Brookvale Oval with a final score of 20–18.

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 Canberra Raiders 19–12 at WIN Stadium for the Illawarra Heritage Match. On 15 July, it was announced that captain Mark Gasnier would not be returning after the end of the 2008 season to join the Stade Français Rugby Union team in France. The deal is worth around $1 million a year.

After 1 win in their last 5 games, the Dragons defeated the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium with a 24–20 win. Then in Round 24, they defeated the New Zealand Warriors 34–6 at WIN Stadium, Wollongong to keep their finals hopes alive. The dragons were favoured to defeat the Roosters in round 26 to either finish fourth or fifth. They had been playing widespread open football and Mark Gasnier and Matt Cooper were carving up the opposition. In extremely wet conditions, the Roosters pack were more favoured to the conditions. They finished the regular season 7th place on the ladder which could have been 6th if they scored at least 2 points in their Round 26 match with the Sydney Roosters. They made it to the first week of the finals, but lost to the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 34–6 at Brookvale Oval 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.

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

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Melbourne	24	17	0	7	2	584	282	+302	38
2	Manly-Warringah	24	17	0	7	2	645	355	+290	38
3	Cronulla	24	17	0	7	2	451	384	+67	38
4	Sydney Roosters	24	15	0	9	2	511	446	+65	34
5	Brisbane	24	14	1	9	2	560	452	+108	33
6	Canberra	24	13	0	11	2	640	527	+113	30
7	St. George Illawarra	24	13	0	11	2	489	378	+111	30
8	New Zealand	24	13	0	11	2	502	567	-65	30
9	Newcastle	24	12	0	12	2	516	486	+30	28
10	Wests Tigers	24	11	0	13	2	528	560	-32	26
11	Parramatta	24	11	0	13	2	501	547	-46	26
12	Penrith	24	10	1	13	2	504	611	-107	25
13	Gold Coast	24	10	0	14	2	476	586	-110	24
14	South Sydney	24	8	0	16	2	453	666	-213	20
15	North Queensland	24	5	0	19	2	474	638	-164	14
16	Bulldogs	24	5	0	19	2	433	782	-349	14

First Grade Signed Players

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

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

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

Team Lineup

Line up for the Qualifying Finals vs. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles:
Saturday, 13 September 2008 at 8:30pm AEST at Brookvale Oval, Sydney.

No. Position Player 1 FB Jason Nightingale 2 WG Wendell Sailor 3 CE Mark Gasnier (captain) 4 CE Matt Cooper 5 WG Josh Morris 6 FE Ben Rogers 7 HB Ben Hornby 8 PR Beau Scott 9 HK Stuart Webb 10 PR Jason Ryles 11 SR Lagi Setu 12 SR Ben Creagh 13 LK Dean Young

No. Position Player 14 PR Dan Hunt 15 PR Matt Prior 16 SR Kirk Reynoldson 17 HK Ben Ellis SR Jarrod Saffy FE Jamie Soward HK Simon Woolford LK Rangi Chase CE Michael Lett FB Brett Morris CE Chase Stanley (injured ankle; Semi Finals) PR Justin Poore (injured knee; Season) PR Ricky Thorby (injured ribs; Season)

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

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 WIN Stadium in Wollongong. They started the regular season disappointing with a 34–22 loss to the Wests Tigers. However, the Dragons have not lost another match after that with 1 bye in their past leaving them on top of the Toyota Cup table, on 22 competition points. Their 10-match winning streak came to an end in Round 13 at WIN Stadium when they drew 22 all with the Brisbane Broncos. While the First Grade side continued their winning streak, the Under 20s were looking to start a losing streak as they were defeated back-to-back for the first time this year by the Penrith Panthers 28–26 in Round 15 at ANZ Stadium and 32-16 by the Gold Coast Titans at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast. They returned to the winners circle in Round 17 defeating the Newcastle Knights 26–18 at EnergyAustralia Stadium. In Round 18, straight after a fresh win, they once again lost a match this time against the Canberra Raiders 38–28 at WIN Stadium. They then had back and forth wins during the regular season keeping them in the top 8, struggling to keep their spot(s).

Toyota Cup signed players

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

No. Position Player WG Chris Astill WG Jace Brown LK Rowan Brown PR Josh Cochrane PR Rhys Cochrane FE Nathan Dureau HK Daniel Fepuleai PR Thomas Hancock FE Beau Henry HB Gavin Hood SR Brad Hudson SR Ben Josephs HB John Kennedy (captain) FE Maurice Kennedy CE Cameron King CE Kane Linnett SR Jake Marketo

No. Position Player PR Trent Merrin FB Sam Morath WG Clifford Morris LK Matt Mundine LK Luke Muttdon CE Daniel Nicastri PR Rory O'Brien LK Michael Pickerd WG Henry Raiwalui PR Travis Roche SR Ben Schreiber LK Brendan Smith LK Kyle Stanley LK Wes Suckley SR Jarrod Thompson WG Joe Vickory CE Dean Whare

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.

No. Position Player 1 FB Henry Raiwalui 2 WG Daniel Nicastri 3 CE Kane Linnett 4 CE Dean Whare 5 WG Sam Morath 6 FE Nathan Dureau 7 HB John Kennedy (captain) 8 PR Rory O'Brien 9 HK Daniel Fepuleai 10 PR Trent Merrin 11 SR Jake Marketo 12 SR Jarrod Thompson 13 LK Clifford Morris

No. Position Player 14 HK Thomas Hancock 15 SR Wes Suckley 16 SR Luke Muttdon 17 PR Cameron King (18) HK Ben Schreiber PR Beau Henry FE Maurice Kennedy SR Brad Hudson LK Alex McKinnon LK Matt Mundine WG Travis Roche WG Jace Brown WG Joe Vickery

• 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 NSW Cup or the S.G. Ball Cup.

Ladder

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