Being international athletes, it would come as no surprise that the Dragons football club has had a few moments with farmous people. Here is just a snippet:

Australian Prime Minister. John Howard appeared at the 2003 Bali 9s tournament which the Dragons competed in. This was the first anniversary of the tragic Bali bombings. “Today is a great day in Australian sport. Matthew Hayden has made a record 380 runs, the Wallabies won their first game over Argentina at the world cup and the Batemans Bay Seahawks have won the Bali 9s” Mr Howard said before presenting the cup. Pity it was not the Dragons who won it.

Hong Kong racing fraternity. Trainer David Hayes was a long time player for the Dragons. It may not be that well known that Haysey played SANFL football. As he will tell you, he kicked a bag of 7 goals in his last game and then retired as it could only go downhill from there. Damien Oliver once also laced on a boot for the Dragons while in town in the late 1990s.

Conroy Chan. Conroy played a few games in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He went on to marry Josie Ho (Stanley’s daughter) and is now a famous Hong Kong actor and musician in his own right.
Mark Seymour. Mark Seymour was present at a tournament in Ho Chi Mihn in 1998 that the Dragons competed in. Mark managed to get on the ground briefly, but saved his best for the night when he got on stage with the band at the post-game function to sing a couple of Hunters classics. Dragons rock duo Mega and Macca were very impressed!

1999 grand final. The 1999 grand final in Hong Kong was attended by several AFL players. Matthew Nicks, Scott West, Brett Montgomery and Andrew Thompson. They were flown up by sponsor Ansett. Scott West in particular was given a welcome by the club, being called a finals choker (based on their effort in the 1997 and 1998 preliminary finals) by an unnamed Dragon who West promptly sent tumbling to the floor with nothing more than a push in the chest!

Barry Cable. Arguably WA’s best ever footballer, Barry Cable attended the 2005 grand final in Hong Kong sponsored by Steve Douglas from SMATS. It was good Australian common sense. While setting up the function room, Barry came in for a chat and showed player Nathan Byrne that he had not lost his handballing skills by sending him reeling with one in the bread basket from 20 yards.

Darwin media storm in 1997. The Dragons competed at the Arafura games in 1995, 1997 and 1999. 1997 is the year that will be best remembered by the media outlets due to the controversial tour t-shirts. The team runner wearing the t-shirt during a game in front of 2,000 people didn’t help. There were several letters to the editor of the Darwin Daily and a cartoon that appeared in the paper in reference to it. The shirt was a black t-shirt with “No Fat Chicks” written in large letters across the front. What could possibly go wrong?