How the Dragons went from the NRLW's great underachievers to the brink of the club's first premiership

The last time the Dragons made a grand final it was just a little short of humiliating.

This was back in 2019, just the second season of NRLW, and St George Illawarra were taking on the might of Brisbane. Their chins were up and their hearts were full, but against the Broncos that was never really going to be enough.

«They blew us off the park, the game was over in 15 minutes. They completely set that tempo and we were playing catch-up for the rest of the game,» remembers Dragons veteran Holli Wheeler.

In the end, the 30-6 loss summed up much of St George Illawarra's experience in the NRLW. They were talented, but rarely fulfilled those talents. Before this season, the 24-point drubbing was the third-largest loss in NRLW history, with Dragons defeats also taking out the top two.

With a player exodus from 2020's wooden spoon campaign and a rookie coach taking over in Jamie Soward, the tip for the Dragons for this season was supposed to be clear.

«A lot of the media people around the game wrote us off quite early. They spoke about the players we lost and we were probably close to wooden spoon favourites, with the calibre of players we lost,» said Wheeler.

«Nobody really spoke about the players we were bringing in, or the talent we were unearthing. The more we got together, the hunger the younger girls had, it got us older girls excited.»

Wheeler is one of just four players remaining from the 2019 side. Along with Kezie Apps, Keeley Davis and Shaylee Bent, she's seen the Dragons rise from the ashes and transform from a team that got belted to a team that does the belting, who have gone from sleepless nights wondering why the hell it wasn't all working to being up the front, in the spotlight, with everything they ever wanted right