Dragons CEO Tim Watsford, player Keele Browne, IWD Illawarra co-founders Vicki Tiegs and Judith Henderson, player Dylan Egan and NRLW head of football Sammy Bremner. Photo: Keeli Dyson.
St George Illawarra Dragons’ CEO has assured there’s accountability and transparency within the club as it strives to be the best on and off the field, with a new partnership with International Women’s Day Illawarra showcasing their priority of and commitment to equality.
An iconic Illawarra luncheon which has supported women and important causes in the region for more than two decades is being backed by the local NRL club, with the Dragons announced as the keynote sponsor for 2026.
“I think it’s really important that we have organisations like the St George Illawarra Dragons on board,” IWD Illawarra Committee Chairperson and Co-Founder Vicki Tiegs said. “They’ve been a significant part of the community here for a long, long time.
“I think as we work towards gender equality, we’ve got to have men in the conversation because we’re never going to get there if we don’t have men joining us.
“It’s not a women’s issue, it’s a community issue; gender equality is so important and I think the Dragons show that: (a) by being involved, but (b) by what they’re doing here by creating the Bruce Gordon Centre.”
The centre at Wollongong’s Innovation Campus will open its doors in coming weeks, offering equal facilities and access for both the Dragons’ female and male players as the club tries to even the playing field.
“From an NRLW perspective or from the female rugby league competition, we’re investing heavily,” Dragons’ CEO Tim Watsford said.
“We want to be the best and we are going to be the best.
“We’ve got some really great people in and around the building, we’re developing on what our structures and systems look like but from an equitable perspective, the Dragons are second to none.”
Mr Watsford, who took on the top job last June, said the prominence of the club and players meant they needed to be held to a higher standard to ensure controversial incidents and accusations at the club weren’t repeated.
“We’ve been pretty clear that from myself and my board all the way down to our playing group and front of house staff that accountability and holding ourselves to account within the community is paramount; we set the standard,” he said.
“There’s no tolerance, quite frankly.
“I think there’s a point that good people create good things and our mandate internally is to be better tomorrow than you are today and that stands whether you’re walking down to get a coffee or on a football field, whether you’re a front office staff member or a high performance coach.
“I’m beyond comfortable with the people that we’ve got in the building are living those standards and are owning the badge that we wear proudly, the mighty red V.”
That approach is something that has aligned strongly with the values of the IWD Illawarra committee.
“I think the most important thing when those incidents unfortunately occur is that you act and you act quickly and over the past couple of years the Dragons have done that and we’re very comfortable with the way they manage those situations and hopefully we see less and less of that,” Ms Tiegs said.
In its 21st year, the annual luncheon has grown from just 200 people in a small room to nearly 1000 filling WIN Entertainment Centre, with the ongoing success made possible by the support of organisations such as the Dragons, and the broader community.
“It is exciting and it’s rewarding because many people are behind us,” IWD Illawarra patron and co-founder Judith Henderson said.
“It isn’t just two people, it is a whole committee; it is a commitment from the community, a commitment from so many people in this area that have backed us all the way and we have grown because of their concern of issues facing women, their willingness to support an event which will help other women.
“The projects we have funded, they have helped so many people and so many women in difficult situations. They have been innovative and they have been restorative, helping women to get back on their feet and providing new ways of doing that by working with different organisations who have more expertise than we do in the areas that matter.”
And it’s hoped the event can continue creating those launchpads to success and access to support for women in the Illawarra for decades to come, with a long way still to go in the fight for equality.
“I think it’s important that we recognise that balancing the scales is really about equity, and equity means getting rid of every inequality that exists,” Ms Henderson said.
“We must remember that this is an issue that everybody owns; it isn’t just me or you, it is all of us that own this issue and we all have something that we can do to make a difference and I think that’s important.”
The sold-out event will be held on Friday 6 March at WIN Entertainment Centre.
