- Club is being slammed after winless start to season
St George Illawarra’s horror start to the 2026 NRL season has ignited a bitter fan backlash, with supporters turning on each other and the club’s very identity under unprecedented pressure.
The Dragons slumped to their worst-ever start to a season after a 32-0 humiliation against North Queensland, extending their losing streak to nine matches and leaving them winless through five rounds.
What followed was not just anger at the result, but a full-blown civil war among supporters over the future of the joint venture itself.
On social media and fan forums, long-simmering tensions between the St George and Illawarra factions have boiled over, with some calling for the club to be torn apart entirely.
‘Famous proud club. Get rid of the Illawarra. They’re a stain on our Saints,’ one supporter posted in a St George Illawarra Facebook group.
Others fired back just as strongly, defending the Illawarra side of the merger and pointing to its role in keeping the club alive.
The Dragons’ horror start has sparked a civil war among fans as supporters demand the St George and Illawarra factions split immediately
Furious fans have blamed the merger between the Steelers and Dragons for years of underperformance
Star fullback Clint Gutherson has admitted players are letting down coach Shane Flanagan (pictured) as the pressure piles up
‘Saints would not exist if it wasn’t for Illawarra. No juniors no financial backing etc etc. When we are winning. We hear Saints Saints. Saints. When we are losing it is Illawarra,’ another fan wrote.
The divide only deepened on X, where some supporters argued the club’s only modern success was built on Illawarra foundations.
‘If it wasn’t for the Steelers who wouldn’t have won in 2010. Majority of the side was Illawarra juniors. No-one plays league in the St George area anymore. There’s no kids coming through. It’s all soccer. That’s the facts.’
But others demanded a complete reset, blaming the joint venture for years of underperformance.
‘Fold the club and bring back St George. 15 years of mess we have now adopted the Illawarra Steelers standards,’ one post read.
Another added: ‘NRL needs to make a call on St George. That club died long ago when the game went from unlimited tackle counts. Steelers back to Illawarra.’
The most extreme calls suggested abandoning the St George identity altogether.
‘At this stage I’d rather they rebrand to the Illawarra Steelers and let’s be done with it. Run like a small sleepy pub town team. Wear the Red garbage T shirt and stop disgracing the Red V.’
The joint venture, formed in 1998 as a 50-50 merger between the St George Dragons and Illawarra Steelers, was originally created to ensure both clubs survived the fallout of the Super League war.
But nearly three decades on, the arrangement is again under scrutiny as the Dragons’ on-field struggles continue to mount.
Coach Shane Flanagan is now under intense pressure, having already admitted he needs wins to keep his job, while co-captain Clint Gutherson conceded the players were to blame for the crisis.
‘We’re letting him down,’ Gutherson said after the Cowboys defeat.
‘He does tireless work… we’re just not doing it.
‘It’s embarrassing.’
The fullback also acknowledged the anger from supporters, who booed the team at both halftime and fulltime at Kogarah.
‘We know how proud the fans are and they have a right to be angry. We’re not shying away from that.’
