# 2006 St. George Illawarra Dragons season

The 2006 St. George Illawarra Dragons season was the eighth in the joint venture club's history. The Dragons competed in the NRL's 2006 premiership season. The team finished sixth in the regular season, making finals but getting knocked out in the preliminary finals against the Melbourne Storm, losing 24–10.

## Squad gains and losses

| Player | 2005 Club | 2006 Club |
| Sam Isemonger | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Andrew Price | Newcastle Knights | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Michael Ennis | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Brisbane Broncos |
| Daniel Holdsworth | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Willie Manu | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Castleford Tigers (Super League) |
| Shane Marteene | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Retirement |
| Bryan Norrie | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Penrith Panthers |
| Lance Thompson | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Albert Torrens | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Huddersfield Giants (Super League) |
| Nick Youngquest | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Penrith Panthers |

## Ladder

2006 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 605 | 404 | +201 | 44$^1$ |
| 2 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 608 | 468 | +140 | 36 |
| 3 | Brisbane Broncos (P) | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 497 | 392 | +105 | 32 |
| 4 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 608 | 538 | +70 | 32 |
| 5 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 534 | 493 | +41 | 32 |
| 6 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 519 | 481 | +38 | 32 |
| 7 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 525 | 573 | -48 | 30 |
| 8 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 506 | 483 | +23 | 28 |
| 9 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 450 | 463 | -13 | 26 |
| 10 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 552 | 463 | +89 | 24$^2$ |
| 11 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 490 | 565 | -75 | 24 |
| 12 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 510 | 587 | -77 | 24 |
| 13 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 515 | 544 | -29 | 22 |
| 14 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 528 | 650 | -122 | 20 |
| 15 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 429 | 772 | -343 | 10 |
$^1$ The Melbourne Storm were later stripped of this minor premiership due to gross salary cap breaches.
$^2$ The New Zealand Warriors were deducted 4 competition points due to gross salary cap breaches.

### Ladder Progression

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Ladder Position | 10th | 13th | 7th | 5th | 10th | 9th | 7th | 9th | 11th | 9th | 9th | 8th | 8th | 7th | 5th | 4th | 3rd | 2nd | 4th | 4th | 4th | 6th | 7th | 7th | 6th | 6th |
| Source: |||||||||||||||||||||||||||

## Season results

| Round | Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Round | Home | Score | Away | Date | Venue | Referee | Attendance | Source |
| 1 | Wests Tigers | 24 – 15 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 10 March | Stadium Australia | Paul Simpkins | 27,865 | |
| 2 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 12 – 13 | Penrith Panthers | 19 March | Wollongong Showground | Shayne Hayne | 12,098 | |
| 3 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 14 – 44 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 26 March | Stadium Australia | Jason Robinson | 16,049 | |
| 4 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 26 – 12 | Brisbane Broncos | 2 April | Wollongong Showground | Sean Hampstead | 13,708 | |
| 5 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 6 – 54 | Newcastle Knights | 8 April | Wollongong Showground | Tony Archer | 17,467 | |
| 6 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 – 26 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 15 April | Brookvale Oval | Shayne Hayne | 18,069 | |
| 7 (ANZAC Day) | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 22 – 12 | Sydney Roosters | 25 April | Sydney Football Stadium | Steve Clark | 31,105 | |
| 8 | Melbourne Storm | 24 – 10 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 29 April | Olympic Park Stadium | Tony Archer | 8,694 | |
| 9 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 30 – 12 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 7 May | Endeavour Field | Steve Clark | 18,845 | |
| 10 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 22 – 16 | New Zealand Warriors | 13 May | Wollongong Showground | Gavin Badger | 10,117 | |
| 11 | | BYE | | | | | | |
| 12 | Newcastle Knights | 12 – 38 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 26 May | Newcastle International Sports Centre | Tony Archer | 23,356 | |
| 13 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 8 – 1 | Parramatta Eels | 2 June | Jubilee Oval | Sean Hampstead | 9,075 | |
| 14 | Penrith Panthers | 10 – 20 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 10 June | Penrith Stadium | Jared Maxwell | 9,422 | |
| 15 | Brisbane Broncos | 16 – 18 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 16 June | Lang Park | Tony Archer | 32,914 | |
| 16 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 34 – 14 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 June | Wollongong Showground | Paul Simpkins | 13,289 | |
| 17 | | BYE | | | | | | |
| 18 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 38 – 28 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 9 July | Jubilee Oval | Jason Robinson | 13,126 | |
| 19 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 16 – 22 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 14 July | Jubilee Oval | Steve Clark | 18,223 | |
| 20 | Canberra Raiders | 31 – 12 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 23 July | Canberra Stadium | Paul Simpkins | 13,504 | |
| 21 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 – 34 | Melbourne Storm | 30 July | Jubilee Oval | Sean Hampstead | 13,866 | |
| 22 | Parramatta Eels | 28 – 6 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 4 August | Parramatta Stadium | Steve Clark | 19,137 | |
| 23 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 26 – 10 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 13 August | Stadium Australia | Sean Hampstead | 31,256 | |
| 24 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 46 – 16 | Wests Tigers | 20 August | Jubilee Oval | Shayne Hayne | 14,211 | |
| 25 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 18 – 4 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 26 August | Wollongong Showground | Paul Simpkins | 16,897 | |
| 26 | Sydney Roosters | 16 – 36 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 2 September | Sydney Cricket Ground | Russell Smith | 17,142 | |
| FW1 | Brisbane Broncos | 4 – 20 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 9 September | Lang Park | Paul Simpkins | 50,387 | |
| FW2 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 28 – 0 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 15 September | Sydney Football Stadium | Paul Simpkins | 30,907 | |
| FW3 | Melbourne Storm | 24 – 10 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 23 September | Stadium Australia | Steve Clark | 40,901 | |