ST GEORGE Illawarra’s season has reached crisis point, after two Dragons players were charged, another suspended and their finals hopes all but over.
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On the back of three consecutive losses, doubt is cast over the future of Tim Lafai and Siliva Havili, after an incident in Wollongong in the early hours of Sunday morning, leading to police charges of affray.
They had played for the NSW Premiership feeder club the Illawarra Cutters at WIN Stadium on Saturday, before the Dragons suffered another crushing blow from the Wests Tigers on Sunday.
The NRL integrity unit will further investigate the matter, working with police, before any further penalties will be determined.
Both players only moved to Wollongong this year, hooker Havili from the Warriors and centre Lafai from the Bulldogs.
With the club already struggling financially and under fire for moving Wollongong home games to major Sydney venues, the incident has only added to the on-field pressure.
In a further blow, prop Leeson Ah Mau’s high shot on Tigers forward Tim Grant means he will miss three NRL games because of carry-over points.
If Ah Mau fights the charge at the NRL judiciary on Wednesday, he risks missing four games.
Grant was taken from the field by medicab after the hit from Ah Mau, who was named the club’s player of the year last season.
The Dragons have lost three in a row and now face the finals-bound Bulldogs, Broncos and Sharks – teams they’ve lost to by a combined 72 points earlier this year.
With a woeful for-and-against of -158 means, the Dragons have slipped to 11th on the ladder, now effectively two wins out of the eight.
St George Illawarra have the NRL’s second worst attacking record, only ahead of Newcastle, destined to finish with the wooden spoon.
Benji Marshall and Mitch Rein are also yet to finalise new contracts, as the Dragons have missed out on a number of key recruitment targets.
