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The following page contains information on the St. George Illawarra Dragons First Grade and Toyota Cup teams for 2008.
[edit] First Grade
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 uptill 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. He will start with the team in June after 2-3 weeks of practice with the Shellharbour Marlins.
The Dragons started another year with disapointing 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 May 23 in Round 11 of the Premiership, 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. In Round 12, Dragons proved that they can also defeat teams lower on the ladder recording a 26-12 win over the South Sydney Rabbitohs. They then defeated an understrenght Brisbane Broncos side who had many players on Origin duty with a scoreline of 28-10 in Round 13 at WIN Stadium, Wollongong. The Dragons new winger Wendell Sailor made his NRL return in this match also sustaining a minor cheekbone injury.
[edit] 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 |
|
 Penrith Panthers |
20 June 2008, 7:45pm |
ANZ Stadium |
| 16 |
Gold Coast Titans |
|
St. George Illawarra Dragons |
28 June 2008, 5:30pm |
Skilled Park |
| 17 |
 Newcastle Knights |
|
St. George Illawarra Dragons |
5 July 2008, 7:30pm |
EnergyAustralia Stadium |
| 18 |
St. George Illawarra Dragons |
|
Canberra Raiders |
13 July 2008, 2:00pm |
WIN Stadium |
| 19 |
Melbourne Storm |
|
St. George Illawarra Dragons |
21 July 2008, 7:00pm |
Olympic Park Stadium |
| 20 |
St. George Illawarra Dragons |
|
Bulldogs |
28 July 2008, 7:00pm |
ANZ Stadium |
| 21 |
Cronulla Sharks |
|
St. George Illawarra Dragons |
August 2008 |
Toyota Park |
| 22 |
St. George Illawarra Dragons |
|
Wests Tigers |
August 2008 |
WIN Stadium |
| 23 |
Brisbane Broncos |
|
St. George Illawarra Dragons |
August 2008 |
Suncorp Stadium |
| 24 |
St. George Illawarra Dragons |
|
 New Zealand Warriors |
August 2008 |
WIN Stadium |
| 25 |
St. George Illawarra Dragons |
|
Parramatta Eels |
September 2008 |
ANZ Stadium |
| 26 |
Sydney Roosters |
|
St. George Illawarra Dragons |
September 2008 |
Sydney Football Stadium |
[edit] Ladder
[edit] Gains and Losses
Gains
Losses
[edit] First Grade Signed Players
St George Illawarra Dragons has 31 signed players in first grade that play in the main competition.
[edit] First Grade Line Up
This is the Dragons First Grade weekly line up.
- (*)2 interchanges would be omitted for a game.
- (*)Last 8 are currently inactive due to injury, fulfilling other commitments or being used as "spares".
The Dragons U20's side were strong off from the start. For the Toyota Cup inaugural season, the Dragons Under-20's 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 dissapointing 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.
[edit] Toyota Cup Signed Players
All the following players are signed with St. George Illawarra Dragons for the Toyota Cup.
| No. |
|
Position |
Player |
|
 |
FE |
Jace Brown |
|
|
PR |
Josh Cochrane |
|
|
PR |
Nathan Dureau |
|
|
HK |
Daniel Fepuleai |
|
|
PR |
Thomas Hancock |
|
|
HB |
Gavin Hood |
|
|
SR |
Brad Hudson |
|
|
HB |
John Kennedy (captain) |
|
|
FE |
Maurice Kennedy |
|
|
CE |
Kane Linnett |
|
|
SR |
Jake Marketo |
|
|
PR |
Trent Merrin |
|
|
| No. |
|
Position |
Player |
|
|
FB |
Sam Morath |
|
|
WG |
Clifford Morris |
|
|
LK |
Matt Mundine |
|
|
CE |
Daniel Nicastri |
|
|
SR |
Rory O'Brien |
|
|
WG |
Henry Raiwalui |
|
|
PR |
Travis Roche |
|
|
SR |
Ben Schreiber |
|
|
WG |
Joe Vickery |
|
|
CE |
Dean Whare |
|
[edit] Toyota Cup Line Up
This is the usual weekly line up for the NYC team.
| No. |
|
Position |
Player |
| 1 |
|
FB |
Sam Morath |
| 2 |
|
WG |
Joe Vickery |
| 3 |
|
CE |
Kane Linnett |
| 4 |
|
CE |
Dean Whare |
| 5 |
|
WG |
Henry Raiwalui |
| 6 |
|
FE |
Maurice Kennedy |
| 7 |
|
HB |
John Kennedy (captain) |
| 8 |
|
PR |
Thomas Hancock |
| 9 |
|
HK |
Daniel Fepuleai |
| 10 |
|
PR |
Trent Merrin |
| 11 |
|
SR |
Jake Marketo |
| 12 |
|
SR |
Brad Hudson |
| 13 |
|
LK |
Matt Mundine |
|
|
| No. |
|
Position |
Player |
| 14 |
|
SR |
Rory O'Brien |
| 15 |
|
PR |
Josh Cochrane |
| 16 |
|
HK |
Ben Schreiber |
| 17 |
|
LK |
Clifford Morris |
|
[edit] Ladder
[edit] References
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Rugby League in New South Wales |
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Federations
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Representative Teams
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NSWRL competitions
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CRL competitions
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NSW Womens RL
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Sydney Metropolitan Womens Rugby League
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NSW Cup Teams:
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Manly
Melbourne
Sydney
Gold Coast
Cronulla
Brisbane
Wests Tigers
Penrith
St. George Illawarra
Newcastle
Parramatta
Canberra
New Zealand
Bulldogs
North Queensland
South Sydney
