Dragons fans might still consider themselves the most successful rugby league team in Australian history but, 31 years on from their last premiership, that's something of a hollow boast.

It has been a generation of misery for fans of the Red V since Harry Bath's "Babes" held on 17-13 against Canterbury in the 1979 decider. Few would have thought the team that had won two of the last three titles, the club that had won 11 straight premierships to 1966 and the team that missed the finals only four times between 1939 and 1980 would go over three decades without a title. Premierships once seemed like a birthright to the Dragons faithful. No longer. Cronulla's drought is only 12 years longer.

Since 1979, the Dragons have suffered some devastating Grand Final defeats. St George lost by a solitary point in 1985 to Canterbury before going down to Brisbane in 1992 and 1993 and Manly in 1996. The most heartbreaking loss came in 1999, however, when the newly formed St George-Illawarra Dragons seemed to have all but won the premiership. The Dragons led 14-0 at half-time and could have wrapped the match up when Anthony Mundine knocked on over the tryline early in the second half. Old Choc doesn't talk much about that these days but it was a crushing blow for the Dragons, who eventually lost the match 20-18 to the Melbourne Storm when a penalty try was awarded to Melbourne with four minutes to go to put the Storm in front for the first time.

The last decade has produced nothing but disappointment for St George-Illawarra. Despite boasting teams that have consisted of 12 Australian internationals and 17 Origin players, the Dragons have not been back to the Grand Final. They have crashed out of the finals early seven times and have a miserable 5-8 finals record over the last decade and a worse 1-5 record in weeks two and three of the finals. The Dragons have spent more time choking than Kobayashi.

The story is just as lamentable for those who came from the Illawarra side of the ledger. In 17 seasons, the Steelers made the finals only twice, to go along with their three wooden spoons, before being forced into a merger with the Dragons in 1999. The fact the Steelers greatest moment came in winning the preseason Tooheys Challenge Cup in 1992 says it all.

The wretchedness of the Wests Tigers lot has been much different but it has still been misery nonetheless. Take away the famous 2005 premiership and the merged team has limped from failure to failure. From the days of John Hopoate's finger pokes all the way through to Benji's brilliance, the Wests Tigers have missed the playoffs every year bar 2005. Daniel Fitzhenry and the Tigers missing the playoffs have been the hallmarks of the Wests Tigers.

The Balmain portion of the club still have a deep hatred for Terry Lamb and Warren Ryan after brutal defeats in the 1988 and 1989 deciders with Lamb hated for an alleged whack to Ellery Hanley and Ryan blamed for the loss in '89 after replacing key forwards Paul Sironen and Steve Roach when Balmain seemed to have the game wrapped up. They delude themselves by believing the Tigers deserved either title. Balmain fans also had to endure the coaching stint of Alan Jones.

And there are few alive who have many fond memories of Western Suburbs with their last title coming in 1952 and the club suffering through nine wooden spoons and four Grand Final losses in their last 47 years of existence.

The history of rugby league on the Gold Coast is laughable unless, of course, you follow rugby league on the Gold Coast. Between 1988 and 1998, the team known variously as the Giants, Seagulls and Chargers only once won more than seven games and only once finished higher than 13th on the ladder before mercifully dying. When the most notable elements of a footy club are a mascot known as Captain Charger and the sad end to the career of Wally Lewis, who captain-coached the Seagulls for two seasons, then there hasn't been a great deal to celebrate. The famous Meter Maids had more respectability than league on the holiday strip until the club was revived in 2006 under the Titans guise.

The Sydney Roosters may have won a title in 2002 but there has been more bad than good for fans of the Tricolours over the last 35 years. That title was somewhat tainted by the Bulldogs salary cap scandal and they went on to lose the 2003 and 2004 Grand Finals as heavy favourites. Throw in Grand Final losses in 1980 and 2000, a streak from 1983 to 1995 that included only one finals appearance and the desolation of the post-Brad Fittler era and the Roosters tale of woe is a long one.

Success has not been associated with the Dragons, Tigers, Titans or Roosters over the last 30 years. Between them, they have only two premierships to go with 11 Grand Final losses and 15 wooden spoons. The bad times have far outweighed the good.

For one club, though, redemption is at hand. The Dragons can shed their choker tag. The Tigers can mark themselves as the real deal. The Titans can bring respectability to rugby league on the Gold Coast. The Roosters can create history by going from last to first in the space of a year.

No, 2010 is not your normal year. A new champion will be crowned and for that club the misery of recent decades will be erased by one highly-prized, long-cherished premiership.