In the 2009 NRL Finals Series, St. George Illawarra finished as the Minor Premiership and faced the Parramatta Eels who finished 8th on the ladder, A week earlier at the same venue, St. George Illawarra had defeated Parramatta 37-0 but in the finals game, Parramatta won 25-12 with Parramatta player Jarryd Hayne scoring a brilliant solo try. As of the 2021 NRL season, this has been the last time where St. George Illawarra and Parramatta have met in a finals series. In 2020 NRL season on the 14/6/2020, St. George Illawarra played there last games under former coach Paul McGregor (rugby league), at CommBank Stadium. The Saints showed a lot of emotion as they won 14-12 unexpectedly against the Parramatta Eels. With Mikaele Ravalawa scoring a double. But Zac Lomax sealed the games with slotting a Penalty goal in the 65th minute. Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks St. George Illawarra's fiercest rivalries is with their Southern neighbor, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. Cronulla-Sutherland originally were part of the St. George juniors area, and Cronulla are often referred to as St George's "little brother". St. George Illawarra have had the same amount of success as the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, who have also won one premiership. In fact, since St. George Illawarra entered the competition in 1999, both the Saints and Cronulla have finished higher than the other six times apiece. Cronulla finished the 1999 season as minor premiers, but St. George Illawarra beat them 26–8 in the preliminary final to progress to the 1999 NRL Grand Final at the Sharks' expense. The Saints trailed 0–8 at halftime. Both clubs have been accused of poaching players from the other, and compete for fans in the same region. In 1999, the Cronulla CEO infamously cut up a St. George Jersey after a match at Toyota Stadium. During the Super League war, Cronulla-Sutherland was one of only three Sydney teams to join the rival competition, entrenching further spite from both the St. George Dragons and the Illawarra Steelers were loyal to the ARL during the Super League War). In the 2002 finals series, both teams met in the semi-final which Cronulla won 40-24 at the Sydney Football Stadium. The rivalry increased further in 2005 when they met in a qualifying final at a sold out WIN Stadium with the Dragons winning 28–22. As of the 2021 NRL season, this is the last time the two club's have played each other in