You guys are very funny...
Go the Dragons! - or better yet - Illawarra Steelers!!
Bennett on board, Wendel looking likely. Just need Barret back from UK and Gasnier healthy then the Dragons will finally perform like they should. - Broncs and Storm shall fall...
So a 33 year old cocaine addict is the dragons saviour??looking to get your 1st premiership in 29 years,its no fluke the trophy cabinet has been bare since 1979,the addition of illawarra & canberra in 1982 spread the game state wide then even worse for saints when the broncos & newcastle came into the comp. in 1988.
The merger with illawarra was 10 years too late as saints didnt see the future with the game going from a suburban comp of sydney teams to in 1967 a 12 team comp with cronulla & penrith added...
The geographics of the game changed & its no fluke that penrith have won more comps in the last 17 years than the saints..
look at the some of the original city teams of:
easts...27 years between comps..1975/2002(lost 2 in between,1980,2000)
north sydney...only won 2 comps...1921,1922
south sydney...since 1972 when manly won their 1st comp,souths have made the semis 7 times,not been in a gf since 1971.they must merge to be any chance in the future.with easts...
balmain...1969 winners,1988 & 1989 runners up...we merged with wests in 2000 who hadnt won a comp for 50 years...kapow we won a comp after 5 years.
wests...last comp was in 1952 i think,they were in the same boat as norths,an expanding comp into huge regional areas with great juniors & they were going to die.
canterbury...is the one city club that prepared for the expansion,they won comps in 84,85,95 & 04...but i do think eventually there will be another 1 possibly 2 mergers...
newtown...too close to souths,canterbury,st george & balmain...they had not won a comp for 60 years when they went broke...unfortunate geograhics.
The same type of consolidation happened a long time ago when teams like glebe & university where in the comp.
future possible mergers
easts & souths
st george & cronulla
st george & souths
st george & canterbury(they already play together in a combined junior comp along with the balmain juniors)
Now lets look at the geographicals of parramatta & penrith...
Parramatta came in with manly in 1947,(manly with the great bozo won comps in 72,73 v cronulla,76 v parra their 1st gf,& 78 without fulton who returned in 87 &96 to win as coach)
Parramatta's last comp in 1986 coincided with the population shift west to penrith who have the largest juniors in world rugby league.
penrith made the semis for the first time by way of a play off for 5th v manly in 1985 i think the coach was ron willey the coach of manly in their 1st 2 premiership wins.parra ironically were too good for them 38-6.
The following year 1986 parra won their last comp,the dynasty had shifted further west & another dynasty was forming at canberra.
Penrith in 1988 once again were in a play off for 5th this time the tigers beat them 28-8 & went all the way to the grand final with ellery hanley the hero,it was a pointer to the future for penrith,yet to make the semis without a play off but they were now taken notice of.
Penrith made the 1989 semis outright this time & only to go down to the grand finalists balmain 24-12,canberra 27-18...in 1990 they beat brisbane 26-16(who lost to the other 1967 entrant cronulla 38-14 in 1989),they avenged their loss to canberra in 1989 by smashing them 30-12...BUT canberra beat them 18-14 in the grand final..
Penrith were minor premiers i think in 1991 & took revenge on canberra with royce simmons retiring with 2 tries in the 19-12 win..
penrith in the semis since parras last comp in 86(97 SL n/a)
(play off 88),89,90,
91,2000,
2003,2004.missed semis 05,06,07.(parra minor prems,8th,8th)runners up,90.winners,91,03,2004..gf qual,2000.lost 1st week
parra in the semis since 86 comp,98,99,2000,2001.MP,2002,2005.MP,2006,2007.
parra lost the 98,99,2000,2005 grand final qualifiers
finished 8th in 06,07 losing to melbourne.
lost the 2001 grand final
parramatta & penrith,since penrith 1st made the semis in the 88 play off have only made them together once..in 2000 with penrith out the first week & parra losing the gf qualifier...you can now see how parra have gone since the important milestones..both in 1988.
1.Penrith making the semis after parras last premiership.
2.brisbane & newcastle enter the comp in 1988.both have won grand finals.
So it is a geographical shift out west & new teams that parra has had to contend with,but the stats also show that when 1 team makes the semis its unlikely the other will...
This also points directly to the lack of success for st george over the last 29 years of not one premiership victory,when teams without previous wins & new teams go from strength to strength such as newcastle,canberra,wests tigers,brisbane,melbourne,teams that have won comps in recent years since 1988...plus the surprise packets this year of the titans ironically coached by john cartwright the penrith 2nd rower during their emergence in the dynasty of some great players.
These teams have built dynasties in a very short time like,brisbane,canberra,newcastle,melbourne...all regional teams that miss the disadvantage that city teams like souths,st george,cronulla & parramatta have to grapple with,i wonder in the future if parra will try to merge with penrith??
those 4 teams st george,cronulla(no comps yet),souths,parra have gone a total 130 years without winning a comp..