# 2021 St. George Illawarra Dragons season

The 2021 St. George Illawarra Dragons season was the 23rd in the joint venture club's history. The Dragons' men's team competed in the NRL's 2021 Telstra Premiership season. The women's team, was scheduled to play their fourth season in the NRLW's 2021 Telstra Women's Premiership season, however that has since been postponed to 2022.

## Squad
### Gains and losses

| Player | 2020 Club | 2021 Club |
| Daniel Alvaro | Parramatta Eels | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Gerard Beale | Retirement | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Jack Bird | Brisbane Broncos | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Billy Burns | Penrith Panthers | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Poasa Faamausili | Sydney Roosters | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Freddy Lussick | Sydney Roosters | St. George Illawarra Dragons (loan) |
| Andrew McCullough | Brisbane Broncos | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Josh McGuire | North Queensland Cowboys | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Jamayne Taunoa-Brown | New Zealand Warriors | St. George Illawarra Dragons (loan) |
| Euan Aitken | St. George Illawarra Dragons | New Zealand Warriors |
| Eddie Blacker | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Penrith Panthers |
| Tyson Frizell | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Newcastle Knights |
| Jason Saab | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles |
| Korbin Sims | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Hull Kingston Rovers (Super League) |
| Paul Vaughan | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Sacked (mid-season) |

## Ladder

2021 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 815 | 316 | +499 | 44 |
| 2 | Penrith Panthers (P) | 24 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 676 | 286 | +390 | 44 |
| 3 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 775 | 453 | +322 | 42 |
| 4 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 744 | 492 | +252 | 34 |
| 5 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 630 | 489 | +141 | 34 |
| 6 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 566 | 457 | +109 | 32 |
| 7 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 428 | 571 | −143 | 26 |
| 8 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 580 | 583 | −3 | 22 |
| 9 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 520 | 556 | −36 | 22 |
| 10 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 481 | 578 | −97 | 22 |
| 11 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 474 | 616 | −142 | 18 |
| 12 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 453 | 624 | −171 | 18 |
| 13 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 500 | 714 | −214 | 18 |
| 14 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 446 | 695 | −249 | 16 |
| 15 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 460 | 748 | −288 | 16 |
| 16 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 340 | 710 | −370 | 8 |

### 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 |
| Ladder Position | 12th | 11th | 5th | 6th | 4th | 6th | 6th | 6th | 6th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 8th | 10th | 11th | 11th | 12th | 12th | 11th |
| Source: ||||||||||||||||||||||||||

## Season results
### Pre-season trials

| Round | Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Round | Home | Score | Away | Date and Time (AEDT) | Venue | Referee | Attendance | Source |
| 1 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 36 – 28 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Friday, 12 February, 5:30 pm | PointsBet Stadium | Todd Smith | — | |
| 2 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 6 – 28 | Parramatta Eels | Thursday, 18 February, 6:00 pm | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | Matt Noyen | — | |
| 3 (Charity Shield) | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 16 – 48 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Saturday, 27 February, 7:00 pm | Glen Willow Regional Sports Stadium | Peter Gough | 6,840 | |

### NRL season

| Round | Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Round | Home | Score | Away | Date and Time (AEDT round 1–3, AEST round 4–25) | Venue | Referee | Attendance | Source |
| 1 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 18 – 32 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Sunday, 14 March, 6:15 pm | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | Peter Gough | 7,636 | |
| 2 | North Queensland Cowboys | 18 – 25 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Saturday, 20 March, 7:35 pm | Queensland Country Bank Stadium | Ben Cummins | 15,120 | |
| 3 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 38 – 12 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | Friday, 26 March, 6:00 pm | WIN Stadium | Chris Sutton | 9,253 | |
| 4 (Alex McKinnon Cup) | Newcastle Knights | 13 – 22 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Sunday, 4 April, 4:05 pm | McDonald Jones Stadium | Peter Gough | 21,770 | |
| 5 | Parramatta Eels | 12 – 26 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Sunday, 11 April, 6:15 pm | Bankwest Stadium | Grant Atkins | 24,384 | |
| 6 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 14 – 20 | New Zealand Warriors | Sunday, 4 April, 2:00 pm | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | Chris Sutton | 11,222 | |
| 7 (ANZAC Day) | Sydney Roosters | 34 – 10 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Sunday, 25 April, 4:05 pm | Sydney Cricket Ground | Ashley Klein | 37,620 | |
| 8 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 8 – 16 | Wests Tigers | Sunday, 2 May, 4:05 pm | WIN Stadium | Chris Sutton | 12,323 | |
| 9 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 32 – 12 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Sunday, 9 May, 4:05 pm | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | Ben Cummins | 7,253 | |
| 10 (Magic Round) | Melbourne Storm | 44 – 18 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Sunday, 16 May, 4:05 pm | Suncorp Stadium | Peter Gough | 41,983 | |
| 11 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 13 – 12 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Friday, 21 May, 7:55 pm | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | Ben Cummins | 8,947 | |
| 12 | Wests Tigers | 34 – 18 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Friday, 28 May, 7:55 pm | Bankwest Stadium | Adam Gee | 9,982 | |
| 13 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 52 – 24 | Brisbane Broncos | Thursday, 3 June, 7:50 pm | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | Matt Cecchin | 5,107 | |
| 14 (Queen's Birthday) | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 28 – 6 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Monday, 14 June, 4:00 pm | Stadium Australia | Gerard Sutton | 17,382 | |
| 15 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 22 – 20 | Canberra Raiders | Saturday, 19 June, 5:30 pm | WIN Stadium | Chris Sutton | 9,239 | |
| 16 | New Zealand Warriors | 18 – 19 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Friday, 2 July, 6:00 pm | Mount Smart Stadium | Peter Gough | 0 | |
| 17 | | BYE | | | | | | |
| 18 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 32 – 18 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Friday, 16 July, 8:05 pm | Cbus Super Stadium | Adam Gee | 15,038 | |
| 19 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 10 – 32 | Gold Coast Titans | Sunday, 25 July, 2:00 pm | Cbus Super Stadium | Gerard Sutton | 4,424 | |
| 20 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 14 – 50 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Sunday, 1 August, 6:25 pm | Suncorp Stadium | Chris Butler | 0 | |
| 21 | Canberra Raiders | 20 – 12 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Friday, 6 August, 6:00 pm | Cbus Super Stadium | Chris Sutton | 0 | |
| 22 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 16 – 34 | Penrith Panthers | Friday, 13 August, 6:00 pm | Suncorp Stadium | Ben Cummins | 6,653 | |
| 23 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 22 – 40 | Sydney Roosters | Sunday, 22 August, 2:00 pm | Clive Berghofer Stadium | Chris Sutton | 7,822 | |
| 24 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 26 – 38 | North Queensland Cowboys | Saturday, 28 August, 3:00 pm | Browne Park | Peter Gough | 4,487 | |
| 25 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 20 – 16 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Saturday, 4 September, 7:35 pm | Sunshine Coast Stadium | Matt Cecchin | 3,295 | |

## Representative honours

| Player | 2021 All Stars match | State of Origin 1 | State of Origin 2 | State of Origin 3 |
| Tyrell Fuimaono | Indigenous All Stars | | | |
| Josh Kerr | Indigenous All Stars | | | |
| Tariq Sims | | New South Wales | New South Wales | New South Wales |
| Ben Hunt | | Queensland | Queensland | Queensland |
| Andrew McCullough | | | Queensland | |