While St George Illawarra flyer Brett Morris favours Black Eyed Peas on his iPod, his famous father would have tuned in to Blondie and the Boomtown Rats on Countdown the last time the Dragons won a premiership.

Three decades after Steve "Slippery" Morris produced a man-of-the-match display in St George's 17-13 grand final victory over Canterbury in 1979, 24-year-old Brett will be doing his best to end the Dragons's painful title drought against the Sydney Roosters on Sunday.

And how times have changed during the Dragons' long wait between drinks.

In 1979, beer consumption peaked in Australia before the breathalyser kicked in, a schooner cost 49 cents, a 600ml bottle of milk 28 cents and Up There Cazaly was topping the charts for the Two Man Band.

Malcolm Fraser was in his second term as Prime Minister, brown and orange were the colours of choice, while flares, tight shorts and moustaches were the epitome of cool.

It was the year Heath Ledger was born, Mad Max ignited Mel Gibson's career and Prince Charles was a hit with the ladies in Western Australia.

The launch of 60 Minutes saw Australians lapping up current affairs on a Sunday night, while the premiere of Prisoner got us hooked on Aussie soaps long before reality TV came along.

While Julia Gillard made Australian history in 2010 as the country's first female Prime Minister, the Brits beat us to the punch when Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979.

All up, Australia have had five PMs running the country since Slippery Morris and Dragons hooker Dean Young's father Craig lifted both the `79 premiership trophy and JJ Giltinan Shield as minor premiers.

England trampled Australia 5-1 in the Ashes that year as the Aussies lost several stars to the lure of Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket.

It was also the year Sony Walkmans were released in Japan in a time when Apple was still just a fruit and the internet was science fiction.

Meanwhile, the Australian Federal Police were formed to tackle terrorism and drugs, while Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace prize - the same year Saddam Hussein became President of Iraq.

Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran from exile, coming to power in an Islamic revolution, while Iranian students took over the American Embassy in Tehran and the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.

Closer to home, Western Australia mourned the death of their longest-serving premier, Sir David Brand, and made headlines when NASA's first orbiting space station Skylab touched down near Esperance.

Thirty-one years on and Brett Morris's top priority will be touching down for the Dragons in a long-overdue grand final triumph for the red and whites.

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