# 2020 St. George Illawarra Dragons season

The 2020 St. George Illawarra Dragons season was the 22nd in the joint venture club's history. The Dragons' men's team competed in the NRL's 2020 Telstra Premiership season. The women's team, meanwhile will play their third season in the NRLW's 2020 Telstra Women's Premiership season. Both teams competed in the 2020 NRL Nines, with the men's side coming runners-up and the women's side winning the tournament.
On 13 August, Paul McGregor departed as the head coach of the men's team. Assistant coach Dean Young took over as the interim coach of the first team for the remainder of the season.

## Squad
### Gains and losses

| Player | 2019 Club | 2020 Club |
| Billy Brittain | South Sydney Rabbitohs | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Kaide Ellis | Penrith Panthers | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Tyrell Fuimaono | Penrith Panthers | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Issac Luke | New Zealand Warriors | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Trent Merrin | Leeds Rhinos (Super League) | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Brayden Wiliame | Catalans Dragons (Super League) | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Mitchell Allgood | St. George Illawarra Dragons | London Broncos (RFL Championship) |
| James Graham | St. George Illawarra Dragons | St Helens (Super League) |
| Patrick Kaufusi | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Townsville Blackhawks (Intrust Super Cup) |
| Tim Lafai | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Jeremy Latimore | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Retirement |
| Luciano Leilua | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Wests Tigers |
| Issac Luke | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Brisbane Broncos |
| Lachlan Maranta | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Wynnum Manly Seagulls (Intrust Super Cup) |
| Darren Nicholls | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Souths Logan Magpies (Intrust Super Cup) |
| Jonus Pearson | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Gold Coast Titans |
| Reece Robson | St. George Illawarra Dragons | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Gareth Widdop | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Warrington Wolves (Super League) |

## Ladder
### NRL Nines
#### Pool stage

Pool 2 :
| Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| St. George Illawarra Dragons | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 20 | +14 | 2 |
| Parramatta Eels | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 20 | +5 | 2 |
| Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 31 | −1 | 2 |
| Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 35 | −18 | 2 |

#### Finals

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| Newcastle Knights | Newcastle Knights | 7 | | | | | | |
| Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Eels | 14 | | | | | | |
| Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Eels | 14 | Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Eels | 6 | | | |
| | | | St. George Illawarra Dragons | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 8 | | | |
| St. George Illawarra Dragons | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 17 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 8 | | | |
| Penrith Panthers | Penrith Panthers | 14 | | | | | | |
| Penrith Panthers | Penrith Panthers | 14 | | | | St. George Illawarra Dragons | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 14 |
| | | | | | | North Queensland Cowboys | North Queensland Cowboys | 23 |
| Gold Coast Titans | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | | | | | | | North Queensland Cowboys | North Queensland Cowboys | 23 |
| Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 0 | | | | | | |
| Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 0 | Gold Coast Titans | Gold Coast Titans | 10 | | | |
| | | | North Queensland Cowboys | North Queensland Cowboys | 19 | | | |
| North Queensland Cowboys | North Queensland Cowboys | 20 | North Queensland Cowboys | North Queensland Cowboys | 19 | | | |
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 6 | | | | | | |

### NRL season

2020 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Penrith Panthers | 20 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 537 | 238 | +299 | 37 |
| 2 | Melbourne Storm (P) | 20 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 534 | 276 | +258 | 32 |
| 3 | Parramatta Eels | 20 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 392 | 288 | +104 | 30 |
| 4 | Sydney Roosters | 20 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 552 | 322 | +230 | 28 |
| 5 | Canberra Raiders | 20 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 445 | 317 | +128 | 28 |
| 6 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 521 | 352 | +169 | 24 |
| 7 | Newcastle Knights | 20 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 421 | 374 | +47 | 23 |
| 8 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 20 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 480 | 480 | 0 | 20 |
| 9 | Gold Coast Titans | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 346 | 463 | −117 | 18 |
| 10 | New Zealand Warriors | 20 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 343 | 458 | −115 | 16 |
| 11 | Wests Tigers | 20 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 440 | 505 | −65 | 14 |
| 12 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 20 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 378 | 452 | −74 | 14 |
| 13 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 20 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 375 | 509 | −134 | 14 |
| 14 | North Queensland Cowboys | 20 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 368 | 520 | −152 | 10 |
| 15 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 20 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 282 | 504 | −222 | 6 |
| 16 | Brisbane Broncos | 20 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 268 | 624 | −356 | 6 |

### Ladder progression

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| Ladder position | 13th | 13th | 14th | 16th | 14th | 12th | 12th | 13th | 11th | 11th | 11th | 11th | 12th | 11th | 10th | 10th | 11th | 13th | 13th | 12th |
| Source: |||||||||||||||||||||

## Season results
### NRL Nines

| 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 |
| Pool stage | St George Illawarra Dragons | 27 – 5 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Friday, 14 February, 8:45 pm | HBF Park | Chris Butler | 10,128 | |
| Pool stage | Parramatta Eels | 15 – 7 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Saturday, 15 February, 3:25 pm | HBF Park | | 14,739 | |
| Quarter-final | St George Illawarra Dragons | 17 – 14 | Penrith Panthers | Saturday, 15 February, 6:05 pm | HBF Park | Ben Cummins | 14,739 | |
| Semi-final | Parramatta Eels | 6 – 8 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Saturday, 15 February, 8:20 pm | HBF Park | Grant Atkins | 14,739 | |
| Grand Final | St George Illawarra Dragons | 14 – 23 | North Queensland Cowboys | Saturday, 15 February, 10:00 pm | HBF Park | Grant Atkins | 14,739 | |

### 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 | Newcastle Knights | 12 – 38 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Saturday, 22 February, 5:30 pm | Maitland No.1 Sportsground | Matt Cecchin, Jon Stone | — | |
| 2 (Charity Shield) | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 26 – 12 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Saturday, 29 February, 7:00 pm | Glen Willow Regional Sports Stadium | Ashley Klein, Gavin Badger | 9,124 | |

### NRL season

| 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 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 14 – 24 | Wests Tigers | Sunday, 15 March, 6:15 pm | WIN Stadium | Ashley Klein, Phil Henderson | 9,137 | |
| 2 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 28 – 32 | Penrith Panthers | Friday, 20 March, 6:00 pm | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | Matt Cecchin, Jon Stone | 0 | |
| 3 | New Zealand Warriors | 18 – 0 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Saturday, 30 May, 3:00 pm | Central Coast Stadium | Chris Sutton | 0 | |
| 4 (Queen's Birthday) | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 22 – 2 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Monday, 8 June, 4:05 pm | Bankwest Stadium | Henry Perenara | 0 | |
| 5 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 30 – 16 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Sunday, 14 June, 6:30 pm | Campbelltown Stadium | Henry Perenara | — | |
| 6 | Gold Coast Titans | 8 – 20 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Saturday, 20 June, 3:00 pm | Suncorp Stadium | Chris Sutton | 1,930 | |
| 7 | Sydney Roosters | 26 – 12 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Friday, 26 June, 7:55 pm | Bankwest Stadium | Grant Atkins | — | |
| 8 | Canberra Raiders | 22 – 16 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Friday, 3 July, 6:00 pm | GIO Stadium | Matt Cecchin | 2,500 | |
| 9 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 34 – 4 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | Sunday, 12 July, 6:30 pm | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | Matt Cecchin | 1,571 | |
| 10 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 28 – 22 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Saturday, 18 July, 3:00 pm | WIN Stadium | Henry Perenara | 1,619 | |
| 11 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 28 – 24 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Saturday, 25 July, 5:30 pm | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | Grant Atkins | 3,179 | |
| 12 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 – 32 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Thursday, 30 July, 7:50 pm | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | Ashley Klein | 2,719 | |
| 13 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 16 – 24 | Sydney Roosters | Thursday, 6 August, 7:50 pm | WIN Stadium | Ashley Klein | — | |
| 14 | Parramatta Eels | 12 – 14 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Friday, 14 August, 7:55 pm | Bankwest Stadium | Grant Atkins | — | |
| 15 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 – 28 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Friday, 21 August, 7:55 pm | Suncorp Stadium | Henry Perenara | — | |
| 16 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 10 – 14 | Gold Coast Titans | Friday, 28 August, 6:00 pm | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | Henry Perenara | 2,097 | |
| 17 | North Queensland Cowboys | 23 – 22 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Sunday, 6 September, 6:30 pm | Queensland Country Bank Stadium | Adam Gee | 6,755 | |
| 18 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 8 – 37 | Canberra Raiders | Saturday, 12 September, 3:00 pm | WIN Stadium | Adam Gee → Matt Cecchin | 2,588 | |
| 19 | Newcastle Knights | 42 – 18 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Sunday, 20 September, 4:05 pm | McDonald Jones Stadium | Grant Atkins | 6,659 | |
| 20 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 30 – 22 | Melbourne Storm | Sunday, 27 September, 4:05 pm | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | Matt Cecchin | 2,738 | |
Notes
$^a$^ Matches in rounds two, three and four were played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
$^b$^ Adam Gee was substituted after half time as referee in the round 18 game for Matt Cecchin after receiving a calf injury during the game.

## Representative honours

| Player | 2020 All Stars match | State of Origin |
| Josh Kerr | Indigenous All Stars | Queensland |
| Tyrell Fuimaono | Indigenous All Stars | – |
| Issac Luke | Māori All Stars | – |
| Tyson Frizell | – | New South Wales |
| Zac Lomax | – | New South Wales |
| Cameron McInnes | – | New South Wales |
| Ben Hunt | – | Queensland |