talks midway through 1998. Western Suburbs (whom Illawarra were rumoured to be merging with in the 1980s) and Cronulla both expressed interest but Steelers CEO Bob Millward claimed that the club's preferred partner was always St George. The joint venture was officially announced at the end of the season, and would be named St George Illawarra Dragons, playing 50% of their home games in Sydney and 50% in Wollongong in 1999. The Illawarra Steelers produced some brilliant playing talent, most notably International representatives Rod Wishart and Paul McGregor. Former Steelers players Trent Barrett, Shaun Timmins and Craig Fitzgibbon have gone on to represent their country since the Steelers' final stand-alone season in 1998. Season summaries Joint venture The Illawarra Steelers decided to form a joint venture with the St. George Dragons for the 1999 NRL season to form the St. George Illawarra Dragons. The Illawarra and St George contingents are equal stakeholders in the new club, and until 2014, half of the new team's home games were played at WIN Stadium. The Illawarra Steelers have at times provided the bulk of St George Illawarra's squad, including internationals Matt Cooper, Luke Bailey, Jason Ryles, Shaun Timmins, Trent Barrett, Brett Morris, Josh Morris and Ben Creagh. The joint venture is often seen as a takeover. Many supporters feel that the Illawarra is not appropriately acknowledged in St George Illawarra, as the logo and main jersey were taken directly from those of St George (albeit with the addition of "Illawarra" to the bottom of the emblem). Furthermore, Illawarra fans continue to be alienated by St George supporters who still chant "St George" at games and wave banners like "Great St George Team". The media and other rugby league fans also often leave out Illawarra and continue to call the joint venture entity "St George", much to the chagrin and dismay of those from the Illawarra side. St George Illawarra has sometimes taken token steps to acknowledge Illawarra. One example of this is that, on 18 April 2004 against Penrith at WIN Stadium, St George Illawarra introduced an alternate jersey which was predominantly red (with white stripes), this being recognisably similar to the former Steelers' jersey. This replaced the "blood and bandages" jersey of red-and-white horizontal stripes, which was also a former St George jersey. St George Illawarra have since reverted to the old St George "blood and bandages" design as their alternate jersey.