Broncos prop turned centre Dave Taylor was the battering ram as the door to Wayne Bennett's WIN Stadium fortress was knocked down last night by the club at which he spent 20 years building a rugby league empire.
Brisbane, playing to keep their season alive, produced a stirring 12-2 victory to weaken St George Illawarra's grip on the minor premiership.
The Dragons had won all five previous home games in Wollongong this year, but were denied time and again by a desperate and committed Broncos team.
Full coverage of The St George Illawarra DragonsIt was the first time this season that the Dragons had suffered consecutive losses, having been beaten down in Canberra last weekend.
After scoring a try and inflicting a miserable night on young Brisbane winger Antonio Winterstein in the Dragons' 25-12 win at Suncorp Stadium earlier this year, Wendell Sailor on Thursday talked about dishing up another lesson last night at what he proclaimed "Big Dell's Dragons House".
But Sailor, centre Beau Scott and second-rower Matt Prior spent much of the game concerning themselves with shutting down a marauding Taylor last night.
Taylor was doing his best to create a one-on-one mismatch with Dragons five-eighth Jamie Soward after moving wider in attack following the withdrawal of Broncos centre Alex Glenn, in what proved to be a tactical masterstroke for Broncos coach Ivan Henjak.
After spinning out of a tackle from Prior, Taylor scored the first try of the game in the 28th minute when he planted the ball down ahead of the frantic efforts of Sailor and Soward to stop him.
Taylor struck again in the 58th minute, pushing Soward away and drawing Sailor to offload for Winterstein to slide over in the corner, with Parker converting from the sideline to extend the lead to 12-2.
In what was otherwise a first-half arm wrestle, Soward was on the end of St George Illawarra's best two opportunities before the break, but both were called back for knock-ons.
Soward had jumped on a loose ball in the 31st minute, but was denied by the video referee after prop Dan Hunt had unsuccessfully attempted to snatch the ball in the in-goal before hulking second-rower Sam Thaiday had a chance.
Then, two minutes before the break, Soward bolted clear, only for referee Shayne Hayne to end the play because of a Beau Scott knock-on.
Soward had opened the scoring with an eighth-minute penalty goal before Broncos lock Corey Parker levelled the scores after Hunt was penalised for holding Peter Wallace down close to the try line.
Victory for the Bulldogs on Monday night will put them level on the NRL ladder with the Dragons with two rounds remaining, although St George Illawarra have a clear advantage on for and against.
St George Illawarra have games remaining against South Sydney and Parramatta, while the Bulldogs still have to play the Warriors and Wests Tigers before the finals series kicks off.
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