Fuimaono send off consigns St George Illawarra to Magic Round defeat

Don't make contact with the head.

It was a message his players failed to heed on Sunday, Josh McGuire sin binned and Tyrell Fuimaono sent off as Magic Round turned into a nightmare for the Dragons.

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The incidents came just two minutes apart, the forward punished for a high shot on Justin Olam while the latter's hit on Ryan Papenhuyzen came as the Storm crossed for the first of nine tries in a 44-18 win.

The Melbourne fullback was taken from the field in a medicab, however the club has indicated he suffered only a concussion.

Griffin said the decisions matched others across the weekend, the coach again reiterating his team's need to adapt to the new interpretations.

"We spoke and talked about what had happened over the last couple of days," Griffin said. "We weren't not aware. It is what it is, they're the rules at the moment.

"The send off, with the mood they're in at the moment, that's what's happening."

Despite the numbers disadvantage, St George Illawarra remained in the contest, troubling their opponents with an expansive style of football throughout the opening 40.

Ultimately, however, the task proved too difficult as the Storm ran away with the contest in the second half.

"I was really proud of them all night," Griffin said. "The second half got away from them, but we had to swap a lot of people around and had our own injury problems.

"Before halftime, we got ourselves into the game by playing some good footy, but the second half got away from us.

"We paid the penalty for a slow start in that second half. I thought if we could hang in there and get the first try, we were a good chance of scrambling away."

While the use of the sin bin and send off has been discussed at length in recent days, there were few complaints when Fuimaono was marched from the field.

The contact was brutal, Papenhuyzen hit in the head by a swinging arm shortly after he delivered a brilliant pass to Josh Addo-Carr, who crossed untouched.

There was conjecture surrounding McGuire's tackle, referee Peter Gough originally ruling he had bounced off the shoulder before the bunker overruled.

The Dragons conceded 10 points while the forward was off the field, however they quickly found life upon his return.

Mikaele Ravalawa crossed to narrow the gap to six, before ill discipline again crippled the side's chances.

McGuire was put on report for a second time for a hip drop, a ruling that Griffin will seek further explanation from officials.

Ravalawa was also on report for a shoulder charge, the winger playing his first match after serving a two-game suspension for a similar incident.

The Fijian made up for the error late in the opening half, crossing for his second after brilliant lead up work by Matt Dufty, St George Illawarra trailing 14-10 at the break.

The Dragons chances of pulling off the upset were dealt a blow just three minutes into the second half, Dufty leaving the field with a right shoulder injury.

The early prognosis is not good, the club fearing the fullback could be out for an extended period of time.

With or without Dufty, it's unlikely the side would have held on as the Storm took advantage of the extra man.

Nelson Asofa-Solomona started the second-half onslaught, Melbourne adding five more tries while Ravalawa completed his hat-trick and Ramsey crossed in the final minute of the 26-point loss.

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