St George Illawarra playmaker Jamie Soward was placed on report and battling a leg injury, yet responded to lead the Dragons to a stirring victory over Melbourne at WIN Jubilee Oval last night.
For the second time this season, Soward was monstered by Melbourne colossus Greg Inglis, the last time coming in round one when there were calls for the five-eighth to be axed from the Dragons line-up.
But having since emerged as one of the NRL's most dangerous attacking weapons, Soward hit back to have a hand in four of the Dragons five tries in their 26-12 win.
Full coverage of The St George Illawarra DragonsSoward was placed on report in the first half after he lashed out with a kick while attempting to prevent Inglis from scoring in the 21st minute.
His foot made contact with Inglis' head and the Storm were controversially awarded an eight-point try, with Cameron Smith missing the first conversion, before slotting the second attempt from straight in front.
After trailing 12-8 at half-time, the Dragons surged ahead when a Soward cross-field kick ended up in the hands of Beau Scott, before the Storm were denied a try to winger Joseph Tomane by the video referee.
Attempting to score in the corner, Tomane was ruled to have put his arm down on the sideline before grounding the ball.
From there, the Dragons exorcised their demons against the Storm, their bogey team since the infamous 1999 grand final where an eight-point try handed Melbourne a 20-18 victory and the premiership.
Winger Wendell Sailor scored his second try for the game in the 61st minute, when he took a Soward pass to dive over in the corner.
Then reserve prop Jon Green became the unlikely hero in the 70th minute when he ran on to a Soward ball to crash over and seal the victory.
Soward's performance came after he injured his left leg earlier in the second half attempting to get a pass away.
However, his wild kick on Inglis attempting to dislodge the ball will come under review by the judiciary this week.
The victory put the Dragons within reach of their first NRL minor premiership as a joint venture club, after the Gold Coast were thrashed by the Cowboys last night.
The Storm received a first half blow when second-rower Sika Manu was taken from the field with a suspected broken ankle.
Melbourne led 12-8 at the break through a try to Brett Finch before Inglis was ruled to have grounded the ball after he initially made contact with Soward's leg in trying to put the ball down following the attempted kick out which was placed on report.
Dragons winger Brett Morris scored his 18th try of the season in the fifth minute.
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