Inside the civil war threatening to derail St George Illawarra Dragons

St George Illawarra Dragons are on the cusp of a full-blown crisis after losing five straight games to start the 2026 NRL season, leading to carnage aplenty.

Where do we start? First of all, it takes context to truly understand why the Dragons are unravelling in such a way, both internally as a club and externally from the perspective of the fans.

You really do have to understand the merger, which started all of this off back in 1999, when Sydney’s St. George Dragons (established 1921) and Wollongong’s Illawarra Steelers (established 1982) combined forces in a joint venture.

There is a deep internal resentment among the fanbase, and it raises its head whenever things are going wrong, which they certainly are right now.

Dragons woeful in 2026

The Dragons have lost all of their first five matches, but it’s not just the defeats; it’s the manner of them as well. Shane Flanagan’s men lost their opening round fixture 15-14 to the Bulldogs, but haven’t really been close to winning since. The 46-20 reverse against Melbourne Storm and the loss to an equally woeful Gold Coast were results only topped by the 32-0 disaster at home to the North Queensland Cowboys last time out.

It leaves a critical clash with Manly Sea Eagles this Friday in Wollongong, looking more and more like a must-win fixture.

Fans engaged in civil war

The Dragons’ fortunes to start 2026 have fans engaged in what can only be described as a minor civil war. As detailed by this lengthy fan reaction article in the Australian version of the Daily Mail, supporters are furious.

It’s perhaps best summed up by these three fan reactions below:

“Famous proud club. Get rid of the Illawarra. They’re a stain on our Saints,’ one fan posted in a St George Illawarra Facebook group.

“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,” one fan wrote.

“Fold the club and bring back St George. 15 years of mess we have now adopted the Illawarra Steelers standards,” another fan said.

Pundit shares internal update on the Dragons

Rugby League panellist David Riccio has discussed the club’s internal problems in more detail.

“They are a club in crisis,” Riccio said. “This is not the way St George Illawarra wanted to start their season at all.

“It was pitiful, the way they displayed themselves against the Cowboys. It’s all eyes on how they perform against the Manly Sea Eagles, as pressure mounts on head coach Shane Flanagan.

“Internally, there are serious questions being asked.”

Flanagan makes bizarre statement

Dragons head coach Shane Flanagan is naturally under pressure after the poor start for his side, but he is not helping himself with some very odd comments.

The case in point was when Flanagan answered questions about his future following the opening four losses of the campaign, before the hammering vs the Cowboys.

Flanagan admitted: “I fully understand it. If you’re going to coach at a big club we expect to win,” Flanagan told AAP. “That’s the cut-throat nature we’re in in sport. You see it all over the world if you don’t win.

“The club and CEO, chairman and board have been rock solid. But I am not silly enough to understand that if you don’t win, they’ve got to change something. We can’t change our 30-man roster; I can’t sack 30 players. So guess what, it’s [on me].”

‘I can’t sack 30 players’ is such an odd thing to say. It’s not exactly the words you want to hear as a player after four tough defeats to start the year, and the fact that the players’ response was to put up a shocking display a few days later suggests he has well and truly lost the dressing room.

It will be fascinating to see how the Dragons respond in Wollongong on Friday.