But instead salt has been poured onto the wounds of the club. It has learnt that the name of the Sydney Olympics venue has changed to ANZ Stadium a major rival to the club's major sponsor, St George Bank!

It's all reminiscent of an earlier sponsorship nightmare. The Dragons played at Aussie Home Loans Stadium (formerly Sydney Football Stadium) before returning to Kogarah in 2003.

And the matter hasn't been lost on dyed-in-the-wool fans, who say that if the club had played at OKI, there would have been no problem.

``In regards to the ANZ branding, it seems like an unfortunate outcome for St George Bank,'' said Return to Kogarah group chairman, Lachlan McLean.

``We hold the view that five matches should have been scheduled at Kogarah early in the 2008 season in the same way that the Kogarah matches were scheduled in 2007. This would have satisfied supporters while allowing the Dragons additional time to lobby for funding so the upgrade could commence in July 2008 for either the full scope of works ($15million) or for development of a lesser scale ($7million).''

The club, which says work will begin on Kogarah early next year, will host the first of two local derbies against the Cronulla Sharks in round four of season 2008 at ANZ Stadium.

It will play Wests Tigers in the opening round at the Sydney Cricket Ground and, in round six of the NRL Heritage Round, the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium (technically an away game).

In pre-season matches, the Dragons take on the Bulldogs in the Mercury Challenge on Saturday, February 23, and Souths in the Charity Shield at ANZ Stadium on March 1.