Dream team of Warrington Wolves and St George Illawarra Dragons players

Twelve players and three coaches have links between Wolves and St George Illawarra Dragons, stretching back to Harry Bath’s return to Australia in 1957.

The talent pool features stars to have represented Australia, Papua New Guinea, Great Britain, Samoa and Tonga.

Papua New Guinea international John Wilshere, who had a brief spell with Warrington in 2004

Bath’s back-to-back Championship triumphs with Warrington in 1954 and 1955, along with his five Premiership successes with St George – three as a player (1957-1959) and two as a coach (1977, 1979) – make him the team’s skipper.

Harry Bath with the Challenge Cup at Wembley in 1950

However he is not alone in the silverware ranks, with Brian Johnson (1979) and Tony Smith (1992) having also been part of Grand Final winning St George sides, while Phil Blake (Wigan), Andy Gregory (Wigan) and Willie Poching (Leeds) have been championship winners in this country.

Tony Smith playing for St George

Selection headaches for this fictional dream team stemmed from having too many halves and no hooker, which forced some inventive thinking.

The aggression and vision of Andy Gregory sees him slot in at number nine, while current Wolves boss Tony Smith – a stand off – goes into the centres. And after all, as a coach he likes his players to be versatile!

Andy Gregory, appears at hooker in the fictional dream team

That leaves two ex-Warrington captains – Greg Mackey and Matt Rodwell – as the generals, leaving Phil Blake, the current defence coach at Leicester Tigers, on the wing despite his talents being best served at centre or stand off.

Greg Mackey scoring on his Warrington debut at Wigan

Some positions picked themselves, like Johnson at full back.

He joined Warrington from St George in 1985 and among his 103 Wolves games he scored a memorable try in the following year’s stunning Premiership Trophy Final success over champions Halifax at Elland Road.

Full back Brian Johnson, who arrived at Warrington from St George

Johnson became coach of Warrington in 1988 and steered the club to Lancashire Cup and Regal Trophy successes before his departure in 1996.

Wolves-Dragons Dream Team

1. Brian Johnson

(St George 1979-85; Warrington Wolves 1985-88, coach 1988-96)

2. John Wilshere

(St George Illawarra 2003; Warrington Wolves 2004)

3. John Dorahy

(Wests - Illawarra 1971-73; Illawarra Steelers 1982-85; Warrington Wolves coach 1996-97)

4. Tony Smith

(Illawarra Steelers 1987-91; St George 1992-95; Warrington Wolves coach 2009-15)

5. Phil Blake

(St George 1993-94; Warrington Wolves 1985-86, 1988-89)

Phil Blake scoring for Warrington at Wilderspool Stadium

6. Greg Mackey

(Illawarra Steelers 1984-88; Warrington Wolves 1989-90, 1992-96)

7. Matt Rodwell

(St George 1998; St George Illawarra 1999; Warrington Wolves 2002)

Matt Rodwell, who retired at the end of his 2002 season with Warrington

8. Chris Leikvoll

(Illawarra Steelers 1997-98; St George Illawarra 1999-2003; Warrington Wolves 2004-2007)

Chris Leikvoll on the charge for Warrington

9. Andy Gregory

(Illawarra Steelers 1989; Warrington Wolves 1984-86)

10. Ashton Sims

(St George Illawarra 2003-07; Warrington Wolves 2015)

Ashton Sims, on his Super League debut for Warrington Wolves earlier this month

11. Harry Bath

(St George 1957-79, coach 1977-81; Warrington Wolves 1948-56)

12. Willie Poching

(St George 1998; Warrington Wolves coach 2010-14)

Willie Poching, who was an assistant coach to Tony Smith at Warrington until this year

13. Mike Cooper

(St George Illawarra 2014-15; Warrington Wolves 2006-13)

Mike Cooper, celebrating his Challenge Cup semi-final try against Wigan in 2009

Subs:

14. Martin Masella

(Illawarra Steelers 1995; Warrington Wolves 2001)

Tongan international Martin Masella against Bradford Bulls in the Challenge Cup semi final of 2001

15. Craig Teitzel

(Illawarra Steelers 1990-1993; Warrington Wolves 1993-94)