St. George Illawarra Dragons

The St. George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since 1999 after a joint-venture was formed between Sydney's St. George Dragons (est. 1921) and Wollongong's Illawarra Steelers (est. 1982). The club officially formed as the game's first joint-venture club on 23 September 1998 and remains the only inter-city team in the NRL.

The team has leagues clubs in both Wollongong and the Sydney suburb of Kogarah, plays games regularly at both WIN Stadium in Wollongong and Jubilee Oval in Kogarah, and has its high performance training and administration headquarters at The Bruce Gordon Centre in the Wollongong suburb of Fairy Meadow. From 1999 to 2006 the club was jointly owned by the St. George Dragons 50% and Illawarra Steelers 50%. In 2006 WIN Corporation purchased 50% of the Illawarra Steelers stake in the club before purchasing the rest of the Illawarra Steelers' share in August 2018.

The Dragons reached the grand final in their first season in 1999, losing to the Melbourne Storm. St. George Illawarra is one of only two clubs (the other being the Sydney Roosters in 1908) to finish runner-up in its inaugural season. St. George Illawarra also fields teams in local competitions within the St. George and Illawarra regions. In 2010, the Dragons won their second successive minor premiership and became the first team to be awarded the J. J. Giltinan Shield in consecutive years since the National Rugby League was formed in 1998.

The Dragons won the 2010 NRL Grand Final against the Sydney Roosters 32–8 at Stadium Australia, Sydney. They then won the 2011 World Club Challenge, defeating the Wigan Warriors 21–15 at DW Stadium in the UK. With its World Club Challenge victory, the club became the first Australian team since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992–3 to win the minor premiership, premiership and World Club Challenge simultaneously. As one club, St. George Illawarra Dragons have won 16 NRL premierships. This makes them the third highest premiership winning team in the NRL competition, behind South Sydney Rabbitohs and Sydney Roosters.