WIN struggles for support &
St.George holds its 50th AGM

Only 9,032 supporters travelled to WIN Stadium on Saturday night to witness a very ordinary performance by the Dragons against the Melbourne Storm. The Dragons were defeated by 46-12, after being blasted off the park in the first forty minutes by Billy Slater brilliance.

The Dragons were behind by 24-0 before half time, in what is becoming a customary position for the Nathan Brown coached joint venture club. While the disappointing performances against South Sydney and Canterbury may have contributed to the small crowd at WIN Stadium, the Wollongong Sportsground Trust should rethink some of their recent comments if they wish to attract a greater number of St.George based supporters to the venue.

In Saturday's Illawarra Mercury Trust chairman Chris Christodoulou once again called for at least seven home games to be played at WIN Stadium in 2006 and beyond. Accordingly, WIN Stadium will struggle to attract St.George based supporters while the Trust maintains their position on the seven game minimum in Wollongong.

While the NRL Dragons were disappointing, St.George recorded a 28-20 victory against Western Suburbs in the SG Ball on Saturday at Oki Jubilee Stadium. St.George were narrowly defeated by Wests in the Harold Matthews by 26-24.

In other news the 50th Annual General Meeting of the St.George Leagues Club was held on Sunday (20 March). It was confirmed that the St.George Leagues Club's loan to the Steelers' Licensed Club still has an outstanding balance of $8.29 million. At the end of St.George Leagues Club's reporting period the balance of the loan had increased to $8.347 million, but a payment of $57,000 on the interesting bearing component by the Steelers Licensed Club reduced the balance of the loan back to $8.29 million.

According to St.George's General Manager Danny Robinson, it is expected that the Steelers will be in a position to commence interest and principal repayments this year.