DRAGONS supporters attending Saturday’s Warriors match — the first of four home games at Kogarah Jubilee Oval this season — will be asked to support a petition calling on the NRL club to give St George-based supporters a better deal at the $50 million venue.
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Only four home games have been scheduled at both St George Illawarra’s two home grounds — Kogarah and WIN Stadium (Wollongong) this year — with Dragons management accepting a monetary deal to play four other games at stadiums in the city and Homebush, alongside clubs such as the Rabbitohs, Sydney Roosters and Canterbury Bulldogs.
The Return to Kogarah (R2K) group, which initially pressured the St George Illawarra club to move games back to Kogarah more than a decade ago — coinciding with more than $35 million in government grants to rebuild and extend grandstand and tiered seating — says local fans have been treated shabbily.
So the R2K group have a petition for fans to sign, which the Leader understands will then be put to the Dragons, asking for a minimum of five games a year at Kogarah Jubilee; a return of the Dragons v Sharks local derby to Kogarah and a club guarantee it won’t switch matches from Kogarah to other venues during the season.
Lachlan McLean, the long-time Kogarah Jubilee supporter, president of R2K and Kogarah councillor, said the petition was to remind the merged club that there is ‘‘no place like our spiritual home’’.
‘‘Jubilee has received $37.6million in funding since late 2002 and St George fans want to see it adequately utilised — and not to become a white elephant,’’ he said.
‘‘Kogarah has been given the rough end of the pineapple in 2014 and it is only fair that the local derby returns in 2015 as it has been allocated to Wollongong for two consecutive years.
‘‘Wollongong was given the Charity Shield and is hosting a Test match. What is Kogarah getting? The Warriors, the Cowboys, the Titans and Manly — one Sydney team and that’s on a Monday night!
‘‘It is time to stand up for the St George district and not sacrifice games to Homebush. A minimum of five games at Kogarah per year is a very reasonable request.”
The R2K group has organised an online version of the petition at http://www.r2k.info/petition2014.htm
COMMENT by Brad Forrest, sports editor
ST George-based supporters certainly can feel they have been dealt a dud deal this year ... and not just because of the last second decision which cost the Dragons NRL team the two points against the Storm in Melbourne.
Just four games being played at Kogarah, three of them out of Sydney teams who bring next to no supporters.
Kogarah Jubilee Oval remains one of the best in the country, boasting a giant grandstand with brilliant corporate facilities, and a leagues club across the road to boot.
The result, of course, of fan agitation and years of club officials coat-tailing politicians, both state and federal, for more than $35 million funding to refurbish the ground to its present standard.
Clubs such as Manly or Wests Tigers fans would love those facilities at Brookvale and Leichhardt.
Instead, while Kogarah is used by the Dragons for just four days of the seven-month-long NRL season, the red and whites play to half empty arenas instead, with training and most team promotions almost entirely based in Wollongong.
Kogarah, the spiritual home of the Dragons? Not any more. More like a $50 million white elephant.
Do you think Kogarah Jubilee Oval deserves more home games?