RUGBY LEAGUE
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From an 0-2 start to the season St George-Illawarra could find themselves competition leaders by Monday if results fall their way after holding out Brisbane 12-10 in a see-sawing battle in front of a vocal home crowd of 13,029 at Kogarah on Friday.
In what shaped as the biggest test of their resurgence under Paul McGregor the Dragons handed the Broncos just their second loss of the season to take their tally to 5-2 after seven rounds - the joint-ventures best start to season outside of the Wayne Bennett era.
As predicted by McGregor in the lead up to the match, five-eighth Gareth Widdop sprang to life in the first half laying on the first try for Eto Nabuli and forcing four line dropouts with pinpoint kicks as the Dragons led 6-4 at the break in what was his best peformance of the season.
However the win may come at a cost with centre Dylan Farrell placed on report for 51st minute high shot on Alex Glenn - that fractured the Kiwi International's cheek bone - and Jake Marketo escorted from the field with also suspected fractured cheek-bone. Benji Marshall was also nursing an eye injury that hampered his performance. The Broncos didn't escape the match unscathed losing Glenn for up to five weeks and skipper Justin Hodges failing to return to the field in the second half with hamstring soreness."
"It was a bit frustrating to watch to be honest,' McGregor said.
"But the character the boys showed was outstanding and I'm pretty proud of them. Considering the first time we touched the ball over halfway [in the second half] was with 15 minutes to go on play one so it was a fair test of character. They had a fair bit of possession on us and we protected it pretty well. They managed to score a try but as soon as we got up there end we scored and Mike Cooper put us back in front so that was good."
On sitting on top of the ladder McGregor said: "We're happy where we are but she's only early, we're not even a third of the way through the season. We've just got to concentrate on what we do next week."
The visitors opened the scoring after 17 minutes when Hodges found former Dragon Daniel Vidot with a clever cutout ball allowing him to cross in the right-hand corner and take a 4-0 lead. The Dragons looked to hit straight back after Will Matthews - who was called in to replace the suspended Tyson Frizell - crunched Sam Thaiday from the ensuing kickoff forcing him to spill the ball and hand back possession. It proved a costly error with Eto Nabuli winning the race to a Widdop grubber in the Broncos in-goal to level the scores at 4 apiece after 22 minutes. Hodges was perhaps lucky to avoid being sin-binned after holding Widdop back as he chased his own kick but despite the try being referred to the video referee the Broncos skipper stayed on the field.
The Dragons took the lead five minutes later when Alex Glenn was penalised for a high shot on Dugan as he went close to scoring near the posts allowing Widdop slot a penalty goal for a 6-4 lead.
Things worsened for the Broncos after the break with Hodges failing to take the field and Glenn escorted off with concussion after being collected high by Farrell. the high shot gave Corey Parker the chance to level the scores but his attempted penalty goal was waved away.
However Thaiday's return to the paddock to replace Glenn lifted his side with the Queensland Origin star barging across from close range to re-take the lead at 10-6 after 54 minutes.
The Broncos looked certain to extend their lead - and perhaps seal the match - in the 61st minute when the caught Dragons short on left edge only for Vidot to spill the ball over the line. It proved a decisive error after the Dragons took the lead with 12 minutes to play when Mike Cooper, who was a late inclusion for the injured George Rose, carried four defenders across the line. Widdop's conversion giving the home side a 12-10 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
There were some tense moments for the home crowd as Brisbane launched a final assault on the Dragons line in the dying minutes but, as it has all season, their defence held strong to seal the 12-10 victory.