St.George Illawarra Dragons have won their fifth game in a row, defeating the Brisbane Broncos 12-10 at Jubilee Stadium on Friday night. The win sees the Dragons share top spot on the NRL ladder with the Broncos. Both sides have earned 10 points with 5 wins and 2 losses.
In a game riddled with errors, the Broncos tally of 15 eventually led to just enough possession for St. George-Illawarra to finish them off. Josh Dugan pushed his name to the top of the selection pile as NSW State of Origin fullback with a gritty, work-horse performance.
Gareth Widdop and Benji Marshall maintained constant pressure with excellent kicking games that kept the Dragons in the match. The Broncos’ talisman Ben Hunt was heavily monitored throughout the match and was unable to handle the clutch moments.
A thick, spongy and wet surface meant that ball handling was tough at Jubilee Stadium and the 6-4 half-time scoreboard reinforced these facts. A beautiful wrap-around play on the right fringe by the Broncos opened the scoring in the 18th minute. Daniel Vidot finished well to maximise Brisbane’s 60% possession dominance.
Still riding the high of finishing such a well-executed try, Vidot was caught napping when Widdop nudged a ball in-goal. A flying Eto Nabuli managed to ground the ball as Vidot did his best to shield it over the dead-ball line. The flying Fijian winger ensured that scores were locked at 4-4 in the 22nd minute.
The Broncos went to the sheds at half-time down 6-4 after a careless penalty gifted the Dragons what would turn out the be an important penalty right in front of goal. Brisbane were perhaps a little lucky after spending more time defending after giving up 7 penalties to 3.
Brisbane captain Justin Hodges stayed off the field as the teams ran out to resume in the second half. Plagued by injuries already this season, things do not look good for the QLD veteran.
A tight contest unravelled as both teams continued to grind it out in the middle of the park. Hunt and Andrew McCulloch attempted to do more with the boot to counter the 288 kick metres gained by Marshall and Widdop in the first half.
McCulloch found space up the middle and Sam Thaiday was in support for his first try of the season in the 55th minute and the Broncos looked ready to mount a big charge towards a tough away victory at 10-6.
Vidot had a chance to continue the Broncos momentum with a try in the right corner, but his effort was denied by a diving tackle from Nabuli that dislodged the ball before Vidot could ground it.
In an 8-12 point turnaround the Dragons English recruit Mike Cooper showed excellent footwork for a prop to step through the defensive line 10 metres out and score his first for the club and the match winner.
The Dragons provided some tough goal-line defense in the final minutes, much to the delight of the home crowd. Hunt attacked the line in the final minute, but the ball was dislodged for a Broncos knock on that sealed the win for the high-flying Dragons.
