Southern Dragons

The Southern Dragons is a fantasy football club competing in the Sweet FA, based at Dragon Island.

The club was formed in Season 08 through the merger of the Southern Sharks and the previously unrelated Dragons FFC. Since their introduction to the league, well-respected poster Ljp86 has taken over the captaincy reigns with varying success. The Dragons have finished in the top of half of the competition in recent years, yet despite winning minor premierships as well as pre-season cups they have not yet broken through for a maiden flag. Through heavy recruiting, the Dragons profess to have one of the most active teams in the competition and their posting statistics back up this claim.

History
The first mention of a potential merger between the Southern Sharks and Dragons FFC occurred near the conclusion of Season 07 when then league administrator Frankston Rover touted the idea with a poll. At this stage it seemed both clubs were struggling with a lack of active posters, however the Sharks did have on-field success with a preliminary final appearance in S07. The response, while minimal, was an 8-7 majority vote in favour of the merge. However, FR did state that this proposal was only hypothetical.

The background behind the two clubs differed greatly. Pie 4 Life had set up the original Dragons side in Season 05 and held the official title of captain, although league veteran Ljp86 had a big hand in the running of the side. On-field success was minimal - the Dragons finished 10th and 12th respectively in their final two seasons. Meanwhile, the Sharks had plenty of victories under captain and league admin Frankston Rover, yet like the Dragons, posting activity was lacking.

On 8th September 2007, a few months out from the beginning of Season 08, P4L started a thread entertaining interest for players looking to re-sign next year. It appeared that the Dragons FFC were to go ahead as per normal. However, in a shock to the league, just five days later a merger between the Southern Sharks and Dragons FFC was announced by new league admin TFLUA-Tiger. The new team was to be known as the Southern Dragons. Frankston Rover seemed unaware that the decision was to be made, while the rest of the league were shaking in their boots at the thought of a "superteam" on the field.

TFLUA-Tiger confirmed that the merger "had to happen for the good of the league," however Dragons stalwart Ljp didn't take kindly to the news.

"What the ****? Since when did we have to ****ing merge?"

- Ljp86 - 13 Sep, 2007

TFLUA didn't muck around in his newly promoted position as league admin, with Dragons club captain P4L also not learning about the merger until after it was announced. This caused controversy within the league, however TFLUA stuck by his decision citing that the league would best function with eight teams and one of the current nine teams had to be cut or merged. Some posters decided to leave after being unhappy with the announcement of the merger, however the majority stayed on.

Ljp didn't lie down, criticising TFLUA for abusing his power so early into his tenure as admin. TFLUA was adamant the merger would be a success, however he left the door open for a reversal of the decision if the support for the merged side wasn't there after one month. The new side pushed the deadlines for team submission, gaining the required 20 players right up to the final day, however the team went ahead with Pie 4 Life and Frankston Rover confirmed as co-captains. However, FR's unannounced retirement came not long after this decision and he did not post for the entire S08 season. Therefore, it is assumed that P4L inherited the complete captaincy for Season 08.

After a successful season in the midfield, Ljp won the Mobbenfuhrer Medal in the club's first season, and next year in Season 09 took over the captaincy. While continuing to challenge for the premiership but just falling short, Ljp again won the league's highest honour in Season 10 - one of only two players to have won the Mobbs Medal twice. Over the last few seasons, Ljp's identity has grown to become one of the most highly-respected players and posters in the league, and he continues to hold the captaincy post at the Southern Dragons. While he has taken more of a backseat role since Easty's appointment as vice captain, Ljp still holds the most authority at the Southern Dragons.

On the field, the Dragons have been quite the success, consistently finishing in the top half of the ladder and even won the Season 14 pre-season competition. Nevertheless, a premiership still eludes the team from Dragon Island and will continue to do so until the Dragons overcome their hurdle of "choking" in finals.

The Dragons struggled early in Season 15, winning just one of their first four matches, but then proceeded to win six games in a row - the club's largest ever winning streak - to top the ladder after Round 10. The rest of the season was riddled with inconsistency but they still managed to finish 3rd on the ladder at the conclusion of the home and away season. It wasn't to be the Dragons year yet again as they succumbed to the might of the Fighting Furies in the Elimination final, to once again disappoint in a season that promised so much.

Colours
The Dragons wear the colours of black, red and white, and their original guernsey was based off that of St Kilda's in the AFL. The crudely drawn designs adopted by the Dragons from their inception were replaced at the start of Season 14, introducing a new identity to the club with a set of home, away and clash guernseys as well as a modern new logo. This corresponded with a league-wide design overhaul taken on board by the majority of SFA clubs. The guernseys, designed by rookie team member Speck, feature the colours of black and red prominantly across all three variations with the new dragon logo created by ScottFreo a recurring theme.

Club honours

 * Premierships: none
 * Minor premierships: S14
 * Pre-season premierships: S14

Best and Fairest

 * Four times: Ljp86 (S08, S09, S12, S13)
 * Two times: WAG (S13, S14);
 * One time: 15Petterd15 (S10); Shadow Man (S11); Easty (S13); Gibbsy (S15)

Mobbenfuhrer Medal winners

 * Ljp86 (S08; S10)

EKA Medal winners

 * Zainta (S10)
 * WAG (S13)
 * The Half Back (S14)

Frankston Rover Award winners

 * Ljp86 (S12)

All-SFA representatives

 * Six times: Ljp86 (S09, S10, S11, S12, S13, S14)
 * Two times: WAG (S13, S14);
 * One time: Sausageroll (S09); Tim_Saints (S10); Zainta (S10); Axel (S12); Easty (S13); Frothies McVeigh (S14)

Match records

 * Highest score: 30.17.197 vs 12.11.83, Round 21, Season 11
 * Lowest score: 4.7.31 vs Won 17.12.114, Round 14, Season 13
 * Highest losing score:  17.13.115 vs 21.10.136, EF, Season 08
 * Lowest winning score: 9.10.64 vs 6.15.51, Round 6, Season 15
 * Biggest winning margin: 114 Points vs Round 21, Season 11
 * Biggest losing margin: 83 Points vs Won Round 14, Season 13

Records set by players

 * Most matches: Ljp86 - 152
 * Most goals: Pie 4 Life - 174
 * Most goals in a season: Okeydoke7 - 71
 * Most goals in a single match: Pie 4 Life - 8 Goals Round 14 Season 08 v West Coast Wonders
 * Most Best and Fairest awards: Ljp86 - 4, S08, S09, S12, S13
 * Most Dream Team points in a season:
 * Most Dream Team points in a single match: Sausageroll - 173 Round 1 Season 08 v Mount Buller Demons
 * Most Exie points in a season:
 * Most Exie points in a single match: