RUGBY LEAGUE
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
St George Illawarra hooker Mitch Rein is facing one week on the sidelines after being charged with a dangerous throw in his side’s NRL loss to the Sydney Roosters on Monday night.
Rein was only slapped with a grade one dangerous throw on Roosters second-rower Boyd Cordner in the first half but will miss a game due to a previous offence unless he fights the charge and wins.
The Dragons next take on Parramatta on Saturday night.
St George Illawarra added to their dismal Monday night record with a 19-14 defeat at the hands of the Roosters at Allianz Stadium.
The Dragons led 6-2 after 12 minutes but were never really in the match with the kicking game of Benji Marshall and Gareth Widdop lacking the usual polish, handing the Roosters a glut of possession in the first half.
Roosters winger Shaun Kenny-Dowall wrote his name into the Tricolours record books with two tries either side of half-time to leapfrog Bill Mullins and, with 105 tries to his name, sit second on the all-time list behind recently retired Anthony Minichiello.
Victory saw the Roosters climb into the top four for the first time since round four.
It was the Dragons' fifth loss of the season - remarkably all of which have come in Monday night fixtures - and their first consecutive defeat since opening the year with two losses.
It leaves them with just two wins from their past 12 Monday night matches, the second-worst record in the NRL, but the loss won't see them slip out of third position ahead of their clash with Parramatta at Pirtek Stadium on Saturday night.
The loss leaves the Dragons with two defeats alongside two byes in the past month and coach Paul McGregor said the disruption has undoubtedly upset his side's continuity.
"It definitely doesn't help us," McGregor said.
"We're at a stage of our development where we need to play regular footy and be a round each other a fair bit to get what we need to get done before we play. Our preparation this week was good but we've only played a couple of games in the last four weeks. It certainly doesn't help and the boys being away with Origin is just a part of it. After the Canterbury game we probably needed a week off because we were carrying a few injuries but it doesn't help your football in attack. We're a side that seems to get better as we go along and enjoy that grind."
Asked about the Dragons Monday night record McGregor said:
"I'm not a fan at the moment at 0-5. But you've got to look at the sides we've played on Monday nights to; Souths, Roosters, Melbourne Canterbury...they're some pretty good sides there. I'd rather see the end of it...I don't know [another] team that gets five [games] on a Monday night."
The defeat could yet come at a greater cost with skipper Ben Creagh suffering a sternum injury in the warm-up, showing great courage to even make it on to the field, while Jason Nightingale and Peter Mata'utia both struggled to finish the match with injuries.
The Roosters led 2-0 on the back of a James Maloney penalty goal before Mata'utia swooped on a dropped ball from Blake Ferguson to post the opening try and take an early 6-2 lead.
The Roosters hit straight back when Kenny-Dowall outjumped Nightingale to reel in a kick from Maloney and plant the ball.
Maloney's conversion snatched back the lead for the Roosters at 8-6 after 15 minutes.
The Roosters extended the margin to 14-6 in the 27th minute when Kane Evans carried three defenders across the line from close range before a Widdop penalty goal seconds from half-time cut the lead to 14-8.
The Dragons started the second half with more energy but it was the Roosters who struck first with Kenny-Dowall finishing a sweeping move in the right-hand corner to push the lead out to 18-8 heading into the final quarter.
The Dragons made a match of it through a brilliant 80-metre team try to Widdop seven minutes from time and continued to chance their arm in pursuit of victory.
However, they ultimately left their run too late, with Jake Friend's last-gasp field goal icing the match.