sport, local-sport, Dragons, NRL, finals, St George, Illawarra

The old wounds, re-opened. All the feelings and demons which comes with decades of anxiety and heartbreak. The 2010 premiership was supposed to cast St George Illawarra’s past aside and usher in a new era of success. And yet here we are, the bitter taste of disappointment left in the mouths of Dragons fans after a shock 26-20 loss to struggling Canterbury which excluded them from finals action. It’s the latest chapter in a long tale of near-misses and failure. Not that the Dragons were expected to sweep to the premiership this year, but they were leading the competition after seven rounds. But, at their best, they could match it with the top teams, and perhaps losses like against premiership hopefuls the Roosters on Anzac Day put them on a darker path. They become just the second team to have a 6-1 record – after the Gold Coast in 2008 – and miss the finals. Suddenly, the Dragons squad is sinking schooners on Monday, instead of looking ahead to a sudden-death showdown with Manly. The Dogs loss now etched into the history pages, alongside chapters like St George’s 1992 and 1993 grand final losses and the Steelers preliminary final loss in ‘92 to the Dragons. It will be remembered with the 1999 penalty try grand final loss to Melbourne and 2005 and 2006 preliminary final defeats. Next to the 2009 slide as the Dragons were mesmerised by Jarryd Hayne in an elimination semi-final. But it's also a reflection of the extraordinary pressure and expectation which comes with playing for the Dragons and just how phenomenal the 2010 title triumph was. Perhaps the arrival of James Graham and Ben Hunt is just the tonic. Dragons fans have an obsession with outsiders breaking the mould, as Bennett did, when their own products, like Nathan Brown, Steve Price and now Paul McGregor have struggled to emulate him. It would have been against one of their own, now Manly coach Trent Barrett, that the Dragons would have launched their finals campaign this week. Now they’ll barely be able to turn on the television on a weekend in September.

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