# 2001 St. George Illawarra Dragons season

The 2001 St. George Illawarra Dragons season was the third in the joint venture club's history. The Dragons competed in the NRL's 2001 premiership season. The team finished seventh in the regular season, making finals but getting knocked out in the second week against the Brisbane Broncos, losing 44–28.

## Squad gains and losses

| Player | 2000 Club | 2001 Club |
| Wade Forrester | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Paul McGregor | Retirement | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Willie Peters | Wigan Warriors (Super League) | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Luke Branighan | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Daniel Heckenberg | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Parramatta Eels |
| Junior Langi | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Melbourne Storm |
| Lee Murphy | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Wests Tigers |
| Luke Patten | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Corey Pearson | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Wests Tigers |
| Nathan Brown | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Retirement |
| Wes Patten | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Retirement |
| Anthony Mundine | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Boxing |

## Ladder

2001 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Parramatta Eels | 26 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 839 | 406 | +433 | 42 |
| 2 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 26 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 617 | 568 | +49 | 37 |
| 3 | Newcastle Knights (P) | 26 | 16 | 1 | 9 | 782 | 639 | +143 | 33 |
| 4 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 26 | 15 | 2 | 9 | 594 | 513 | +81 | 32 |
| 5 | Brisbane Broncos | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 696 | 511 | +185 | 29 |
| 6 | Sydney Roosters | 26 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 647 | 589 | +58 | 27 |
| 7 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 26 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 661 | 573 | +88 | 26 |
| 8 | New Zealand Warriors | 26 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 638 | 629 | +9 | 26 |
| 9 | Melbourne Storm | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 704 | 725 | -21 | 23 |
| 10 | Northern Eagles | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 603 | 750 | -147 | 23 |
| 11 | Canberra Raiders | 26 | 9 | 1 | 16 | 600 | 623 | -23 | 19 |
| 12 | Wests Tigers | 26 | 9 | 1 | 16 | 474 | 746 | -272 | 19 |
| 13 | North Queensland Cowboys | 26 | 6 | 2 | 18 | 514 | 771 | -257 | 14 |
| 14 | Penrith Panthers | 26 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 521 | 847 | -326 | 14 |

### 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 | 2nd | 4th | 9th | 12th | 12th | 11th | 8th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 9th | 10th | 9th | 10th | 8th | 10th | 7th | 8th | 7th | 7th | 6th | 7th | 7th | 6th | 7th | 7th |
| 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 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 6 – 30 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 18 February | Endeavour Field | Tony Archer | 18,119 | |
| 2 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 – 26 | Wests Tigers | 25 February | Sydney Football Stadium | Bill Harrigan | 12,842 | |
| 3 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 16 – 20 | Melbourne Storm | 3 March | Wollongong Showground | Tony Archer | 9,480 | |
| 4 | New Zealand Warriors | 34 – 6 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 9 March | Mount Smart Stadium | Bill Harrigan | 8,738 | |
| 5 | Canberra Raiders | 32 – 22 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 18 March | Canberra Stadium | Sean Hampstead | 10,187 | |
| 6 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 48 – 18 | Northern Eagles | 23 March | Sydney Football Stadium | Paul Simpkins | 10,429 | |
| 7 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 48 – 12 | North Queensland Cowboys | 1 April | Wollongong Showground | Tim Mander | 9,583 | |
| 8 | Penrith Panthers | 14 – 42 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 8 April | Penrith Stadium | Bill Harrigan | 12,744 | |
| 9 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 20 – 16 | Parramatta Eels | 14 April | Wollongong Showground | Sean Hampstead | 13,404 | |
| 10 | Brisbane Broncos | 40 – 16 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 21 April | Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre | Mark Oaten | 19,768 | |
| 11 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 – 32 | Newcastle Knights | 28 April | Sydney Football Stadium | Bill Harrigan | 13,567 | |
| 12 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 20 – 20 | Sydney Roosters | 13 May | Wollongong Showground | Steve Clark | 9,792 | |
| 13 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 14 – 26 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 20 May | Sydney Showground Stadium | Paul Simpkins | 15,173 | |
| 14 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 26 – 26 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 25 May | Sydney Football Stadium | Paul Simpkins | 15,226 | |
| 15 | Wests Tigers | 22 – 27 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 3 June | Leichhardt Oval | Sean Hampstead | 13,152 | |
| 16 | Melbourne Storm | 34 – 28 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 17 June | Docklands Stadium | Tony Archer | 11,530 | |
| 17 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 38 – 18 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 June | Wollongong Showground | Tim Mander | 9,013 | |
| 18 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 44 – 12 | Canberra Raiders | 7 July | Wollongong Showground | Bill Harrigan | 10,108 | |
| 19 | Northern Eagles | 18 – 28 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 14 July | Brookvale Oval | Paul Simpkins | 7,017 | |
| 20 | North Queensland Cowboys | 34 – 10 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 21 July | Willows Sports Complex | Shayne Hayne | 14,293 | |
| 21 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 28 – 6 | Penrith Panthers | 28 July | Sydney Football Stadium | Shayne Hayne | 7,147 | |
| 22 | Parramatta Eels | 32 – 12 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 3 August | Parramatta Stadium | Paul Simpkins | 23,061 | |
| 23 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 20 – 18 | Brisbane Broncos | 12 August | Wollongong Showground | Tim Mander | 13,058 | |
| 24 | Newcastle Knights | 12 – 38 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 17 August | Newcastle International Sports Centre | Bill Harrigan | 20,234 | |
| 25 | Sydney Roosters | 12 – 25 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 26 August | Sydney Football Stadium | Bill Harrigan | 20,117 | |
| 26 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 22 – 24 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 31 August | Sydney Football Stadium | Paul Simpkins | 20,123 | |
| FW1 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 22 – 23 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 8 September | Sydney Showground Stadium | Paul Simpkins | 17,975 | |
| FW2 | Brisbane Broncos | 44 – 28 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 15 September | Sydney Football Stadium | Paul Simpkins | 19,259 | |