If Wests Tigers' season was already critical, it is close to terminal after last night's loss to St George Illawarra at Sydney Football Stadium.
The Tigers now face the prospect of winning eight of their last nine NRL games to qualify for the final after being beaten by the rampaging Dragons.
After a night to forget in NSW's State of Origin loss on Wednesday, Tigers hooker Robbie Farah had another disappointing game, while halfback Benji Marshall also struggled, blowing a number of chances to score in the first half. They had a number of chances, particularly during a 20-minute blitz in the first half, but failed to come up with points and Marshall's late consolation off a break from Tim Moltzen was cold comfort after Farah was earlier held up over the line.
Full coverage of The St George Illawarra DragonsThe tale of woe reflected their season, with Wests languishing in 13th position on 12 competition points.
In contrast, St George Illawarra maintained their share of the competition lead after racing to a 20-0 lead after 38 minutes.
The victory was particularly sweet after the Tigers taunted their opponents on the Sydney Football Stadium video screens pre-game, with memories of that stunning 2005 preliminary final victory which ripped the hearts out of Dragons supporters and set up Wests' first premiership as a joint-venture club.
But it took just two minutes after kick-off for St George Illawarra to respond to those memories in style.
Capitalising on Chris Lawrence's lost ball in a tackle coming out of their own territory, Dragons fullback Darius Boyd threw a slick cut-out pass for try-scoring machine Brett Morris to dive over.
The Tigers dominated the next 20 minutes, but failed to capitalise as playmaker Marshall made several uncharacteristic errors, including a pass that was too hot for Lawrence, another that sailed into touch and a woeful attacking kick which was snapped up by Morris.
The raw-boned towering and dreadlocked replacement forward Daine Laurie threatened to bust the Dragons, but spilled the ball in a similar way to the try he butchered against Melbourne last week.
While this opportunity was not as clear cut, Laurie still had one tackler hanging onto him and fullback Boyd to beat, it still earned the dismay of coach Tim Sheens.
From their next opportunity, St George Illawarra made them pay with NSW second-rower Ben Creagh storming through Tigers centre Blake Ayshford to score in the 23rd minute.
Halfback Ben Hornby added to the Tigers woes when he latched onto an in-bound kick from centre Matt Cooper. And then Wendell Sailor made a menacing run to plant the ball on the line, beating four tacklers on his way.
Finally, Illawarra junior Beau Ryan breathed some life into the Tigers when he scored unmarked less than two minutes from half-time.
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 21 (B Creagh, B Hornby, B Morris, W Sailor tries; J Soward 2 goals, Soward field goal) bt WESTS TIGERS 10 (B Marshall, B Ryan tries; B Marshall goal) at Sydney Football Stadium. Referee: Tony De Las Heras, Jason Robinson. Crowd: 15,211.
Email a friend