# 2010 St. George Illawarra Dragons season

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.

## 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. 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

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Attendance |
| 14 February | Trial | Parramatta Eels | Members Equity Stadium, Perth | 34 – 20 | 9,450 |
| 20 February | Mercury Challenge | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | WIN Stadium, Wollongong | 16 – 14 | |
| 27 February | Charity Shield | South Sydney Rabbitohs | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 26 – 26 | 27,221 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw |||||||

## Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Attendance |
| 12 March | 1 | Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Stadium, Parramatta | 18 – 12 | 18,293 |
| 19 March | 2 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | WIN Stadium, Wollongong | 26 – 6 | 16,177 |
| 26 March | 3 | North Queensland Cowboys | WIN Stadium, Wollongong | 33 – 8 | 13,267 |
| 2 April | 4 | Melbourne Storm | Etihad Stadium, Melbourne | 4 – 17 | 25,480 |
| 9 April | 5 | Brisbane Broncos | WIN Stadium, Wollongong | 34 – 16 | 15,374 |
| 16 April | 6 | Gold Coast Titans | Skilled Park, Gold Coast | 19 – 6 | 21,336 |
| 25 April | 7 | Sydney Roosters | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney | 28 – 6 | 36,212 |
| 1 May | 8 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | WIN Stadium, Wollongong | 38 – 0 | 15,779 |
| 8 May | 9 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Brookvale Oval, Manly | 6 – 24 | 16,745 |
| 14 May | 10 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 19 – 6 | 37,773 |
| 23 May | 11 | Canberra Raiders | WIN Stadium, Wollongong | 14 – 22 | 14,728 |
| 28 May | 12 | Parramatta Eels | WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah | 30 – 0 | 15,068 |
| 6 June | 13 | New Zealand Warriors | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | 22 – 20 | 8,312 |
| | 14 | | | | |
| 20 June | 15 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Toyota Stadium, Cronulla | 22 – 4 | 16,773 |
| 25 June | 16 | Wests Tigers | WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah | 34 – 10 | 16,574 |
| 5 July | 17 | Penrith Panthers | WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah | 8 – 12 | 12,974 |
| | 18 | | | | |
| 16 July | 19 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 16 – 13 | 22,368 |
| 23 July | 20 | Gold Coast Titans | WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah | 10 – 11 | 12,688 |
| 1 August | 21 | Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane | 6 – 10 | 42,269 |
| 8 August | 22 | Sydney Roosters | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney | 19 – 12 | 37,994 |
| 16 August | 23 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah | 32 – 10 | 14,740 |
| 22 August | 24 | Canberra Raiders | Canberra Stadium, Canberra | 16 – 32 | 20,445 |
| 28 August | 25 | Newcastle Knights | EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle | 26 – 18 | 23,148 |
| 5 September | 26 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah | 38 – 24 | 18,274 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye |||||||

## Finals

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Attendance |
| 12 September | Qualifying Final | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah | 28 – 0 | 15,574 |
| 25 September | Preliminary Final | Wests Tigers | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 13 – 12 | 71,212 |
| 3 October | Grand Final | Sydney Roosters | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | 32 – 8 | 82,334 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw |||||||

## 2010 NRL Ladder

2010 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos. | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | St. George Illawarra Dragons (P) | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 518 | 299 | +219 | 38 |
| 2 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 645 | 489 | +156 | 34 |
| 3 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 537 | 503 | +34 | 34 |
| 4 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 520 | 498 | +22 | 34 |
| 5 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 539 | 486 | +53 | 32 |
| 6 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 559 | 510 | +49 | 32 |
| 7 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 499 | 493 | +6 | 30 |
| 8 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 545 | 510 | +35 | 28 |
| 9 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 584 | 567 | +17 | 26 |
| 10 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 508 | 535 | −27 | 26 |
| 11 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 499 | 569 | −70 | 24 |
| 12 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 413 | 491 | −78 | 24 |
| 13 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 494 | 539 | −45 | 22 |
| 14 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 354 | 609 | −255 | 18 |
| 15 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 425 | 667 | −242 | 14 |
| 16 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 489 | 363 | +126 | 0$^1$ |
$^1$ 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.

## Squad

| No. | Position | Player 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. | Position | Player 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
| Player | Gained From |
| Michael Greenfield | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Peni Tagive | Wests Tigers |
| Junior Paulo | Parramatta Eels |
| Mark Gasnier | Stade Français |
Losses
| Player | Lost To |
| Mickey Paea | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Justin Poore | Parramatta Eels |
| Wendell Sailor | Retirement |
| Chase Stanley | Melbourne Storm |
| Dean Whare | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |