Most NRL clubs - and most NRL fans - will know exactly what it's like to have a lean run of form.
Nothing goes right, you don't know where the next win comes from, you want a new coach, you want half the team sacked, and motivation to follow the sport properly wanes.
But there are few clubs who know what it's like to do what the St. George Illawarra Dragons have done over the last 11 months.
They won in Brisbane against the Broncos in Round 13 as their first of the season, ending an 11-match losing streak that stretched back further to 15 games once last year was included.
Their last win before that drought-ending day at Lang Park was August 9, 2025 against the Cronulla Sharks at Kogarah - funnily enough, that exact game, on that exact date, is just weeks away from taking place again.
Thankfully for supporters, players, coaches and staff of the Red V, they won't go into that game having a full 12 months between drinks at home, whether that be Kogarah or Wollongong.
Their 14-point win against the Wests Tigers at Kogarah on Saturday evening was ugly, hard-working, and left a fan base finally smiling again after heading to those grounds for the best part of a year and beyond almost expecting to lose.
If you haven't worked it out yet, I'm a Dragons fan, and yes, I'm using this column for a little bit of self-indulgence.
But also, as an ode to rugby league fans.
Because there were over 12,000 in attendance last night at Kogarah. The Dragons aren't the first club to have plenty rock up despite a run of poor form, but they got into full voice during the second half of the performance in particular.
Just look at the way the Newcastle Knights fans have rallied around their team over the last decade or so, as maybe the best example of what it means to be a rugby league fan.
Kogarah was happy again, and while I'll stop short of suggesting anything like, "It made all the pain worth it", it was a step in the right direction for a joint-venture outfit who haven't had a direction for a very long time.
The two competition points, in all probability, keep the outfit wearing red and white in with a chance of not picking up this year's wooden spoon, although they'll still need to do a lot right over the closing weeks of the campaign.
Dean Young, in coaching the game and being forced to make a change on the back of an early injury to Tyrell Sloan, probably unlocked two of the things that can make that happen too.
Valentine Holmes is a winger, not a centre. It may well have been his best game for the club since making the switch from the North Queensland Cowboys.
That was a boost for the Dragons, but so too, somehow, was Damien Cook not playing big minutes at dummy half.
Jacob Liddle had his most productive outing of the season in playing bigger minutes, and while ordinarily you'd expect Cook to play more of a ball-playing lock role than one in the centres when Liddle is on the park, it worked enough to get the chocolates.
And not just that, but worked enough with the rest of the team putting in an effort for their home fans at both ends of the park.
In fact, the immediate aftermath was part apology, part satisfaction from Dragons interviewed on the field.
Daniel Atkinson, speaking on the ABC, was quick to thank fans for their support.
“I remember we played the Cowboys here and we got booed off at half time. To repay the fans, to be honest with you, that means the most,” the five-eighth said.
And he wasn't the only one.
The on-the-ground interviews with players which carried out over the loudspeaker had a similar sentiment.
I've been very, very vocal on the way this footy club has played this year. That's no accident.
They deserved every bit of it.
The Dragons, like many clubs, have a passionate fan base, and it's no surprise that, given their performances at home, they have been booed off Kogarah more than they have been cheered off.
But on Saturday night, a slice of happiness returned to that famous old ground, the one the Dragons set alight in the 1960s during their famous run of 11 straight premierships.
Eleven straight losses this year won't be burned from the memory banks all that quickly, but for the time being at least, a tired, frustrated and angry fan base could spend a minute belting out that famous song.
Oh when the Saints.
Oh when the Saints go marching in.
