2009 St. George Illawarra Dragons season

2009 St. George Illawarra Dragons
League	1st NRL
2009 record	26-17-9
Home record	13-10-3
Away record	13-7-6
Points for	570
Points against	378
Team information
CEO	Peter Doust
Coach	Wayne Bennett
Captain	Ben Hornby
Ground	WIN Jubilee Oval WIN Stadium
Top scorers
Tries	Brett Morris (25)
Goals	Jamie Soward (90)
Points	Jamie Soward (234)
< 2008 2010 >

The 2009 St. George Illawarra Dragons season was 11th in the joint venture Rugby League club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership under new coach Wayne Bennett and finished the season as minor premiers. However a series of losses late in the season saw them become the first minor premiers to bow out of the McIntyre System with two consecutive losses in the finals.

Season Summary

Coming off a 2008 Qualifying Final loss to the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and with a new Coach in the office being Wayne Bennett, the Dragons signed a number of new players but lost just as many. The Dragons were hoping to improve the previous years Qualifying Final loss, by making it even further this year. Five Toyota Cup players of 2008 have been promoted to the First Grade squad with more talented juniors rising through the ranks within the club.

St. George led the competition in defence in 2009 and finished the season with the minor premiership, the club's first. Their strong performance also led to new records for home match attendances at WIN Jubilee Oval.

St George exited the finals series in the second week of the finals.

Pre Season

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Attendance	Report
14 February	Trial	Sydney Roosters	Members Equity Stadium, Perth	54 – 6	9,832	[1]
21 February	Mercury Challenge	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	24 – 12	7,628	[2]
28 February	Charity Shield	South Sydney Rabbitohs	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	6 – 18	25,871	[3]
Legend:       Win       Loss       Draw

Regular Season

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Attendance	Report
13 March	1	Melbourne Storm	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne	16 – 17	14,870	[4]
21 March	2	Gold Coast Titans	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	16 – 10	13,329	[5]
29 March	3	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah	10 – 6	20,847	[6]
3 April	4	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	25 – 12	42,435	[7]
10 April	5	Parramatta Eels	Parramatta Stadium, Parramatta	22 – 8	19,017	[8]
18 April	6	Newcastle Knights	WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah	18 – 24	14,477	[9]
25 April	7	Sydney Roosters	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	29 – 0	28,926	[10]
3 May	8	New Zealand Warriors	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	12 – 11	14,562	[11]
9 May	9	File:North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys	Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville	20 – 24	16,031	[12]
15 May	10	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah	20 – 18	18,415	[13]
23 May	11	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Toyota Stadium, Cronulla	26 – 4	15,201	[14]
29 May	12	Penrith Panthers	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	38 – 10	10,623	[15]
8 June	13	Gold Coast Titans	Skilled Park, Gold Coast	24 – 28	20,416	[16]
14 June	14	File:North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	32 – 18	11,374	[17]
	15
26 June	16	Wests Tigers	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	21 – 10	15,211	[18]
3 July	17	Sydney Roosters	WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah	34 – 12	12,472	[19]
12 July	18	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	48 – 18	16,792	[20]
	19
26 July	20	New Zealand Warriors	Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland	29 – 4	13,507	[21]
31 July	21	Melbourne Storm	WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah	26 – 12	16,474	[22]
7 August	22	Penrith Panthers	Penrith Stadium, Penrith	25 – 6	19,987	[23]
15 August	23	Canberra Raiders	Canberra Stadium, Canberra	12 – 24	17,044	[24]
21 August	24	Brisbane Broncos	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	2 – 12	14,740	[25]
29 August	25	South Sydney Rabbitohs	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	6 – 41	19,218	[26]
4 September	26	Parramatta Eels	WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah	37 – 0	17,974	[27]
Legend:       Win       Loss       Draw       Bye

Finals

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Attendance	Report
13 September	Qualifying Final	Parramatta Eels	WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah	12 – 25	18,174	[28]
19 September	Semi Final	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	10 – 24	50,225	[29]
Legend:       Win       Loss       Draw

2009 NRL Ladder

2009 NRL season
	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	File:St. George Illawarra colours.svg St. George Illawarra	24	17	0	7	2	548	329	+219	38
2	Bulldogs	24	18	0	6	2	575	428	+147	38*
3	Gold Coast	24	16	0	8	2	514	467	+47	36
4	Melbourne (P) *stripped	24	14	1	9	2	505	348	+157	33
5	Manly-Warringah	24	14	0	10	2	549	439	+90	32
6	Brisbane	24	14	0	10	2	511	566	−55	32
7	Newcastle	24	13	0	11	2	508	491	+17	30
8	Parramatta	24	12	1	11	2	476	473	+3	29
9	Wests Tigers	24	12	0	12	2	558	483	+75	28
10	South Sydney	24	11	1	12	2	566	549	+17	27
11	Penrith	24	11	1	12	2	515	589	−74	27
12	File:North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland	24	11	0	13	2	558	474	+84	26
13	Canberra	24	9	0	15	2	489	510	−31	22
14	New Zealand	24	7	2	15	2	377	545	−188	20
15	Cronulla-Sutherland	24	5	0	19	2	359	568	−209	14
16	Sydney Roosters	24	5	0	19	2	382	681	−299	14

* Bulldogs stripped of 2 competition points after an interchange breach in round 2

Squad

No. Position Player FB Darius Boyd CE Matt Cooper SR Neville Costigan SR Ben Creagh CE Nick Emmett HK Daniel Fepuleai PR Jon Green HB Mathew Head HB Ben Hornby PR Dan Hunt WG Michael Lett WG Brett Morris WG Jason Nightingale SR Mickey Paea

No. Position Player PR Justin Poore HK Luke Priddis PR Matt Prior HK Alex Ranieri SR Jarrod Saffy WG Wendell Sailor PR Beau Scott SR Jeremy Smith FE Jamie Soward CE Chase Stanley PR Ricky Thorby PR Michael Weyman LK Dean Young HK Nathan Fien

Transfers

Gains

Player	Gained From
Darius Boyd	Brisbane Broncos
Neville Costigan	Canberra Raiders
Nick Emmett	Brisbane Broncos
Nathan Fien	New Zealand Warriors
Mathew Head	Wests Tigers
Mickey Paea	Sydney Roosters
Luke Priddis	Penrith Panthers
Jeremy Smith	Melbourne Storm
Michael Weyman	Canberra Raiders

Losses

Player	Lost To
Rangi Chase	Castleford Tigers
Mark Gasnier	Stade Français
Josh Morris	Canterbury Bulldogs
Kirk Reynoldson	Retirement
Ben Rogers	Newcastle Knights
Jason Ryles	Catalans Dragons
Lagi Setu	Brisbane Broncos
Simon Woolford	Retirement