St George Illawarra fall short of stunning Panthers upset

That's the lesson to come out of Friday's clash at Kogarah, the Dragons pushing the defending premiers all the way and coming agonisingly close to running over the top of their rivals.

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Penrith eventually held on, denying a last-minute St George Illawarra attacking raid to claim a 20-16 win.

The Dragons were game in defeat, however their chances of victory crippled by two controversial sin-binnings while they also made far too many errors throughout the contest.

Jaydn Su'a was the first man sent to the bin before Zac Lomax had a stint in the sheds of his own midway through the second half.

Dragons coach Anthony Griffin was proud of his team's effort, however he conceded they shot themselves in the foot with errors and ill discipline.

"We just got to learn to be better," Griffin said. "The Su'A (sin bin), if they're the rules, they're the rules. That cost us, George Burgess' penalty on last play, we just invited them down to our end far too many times, before they'd earned it.

"They get the points in the first half, they're hard to run down, they're a very good defensive side.

"We were a pass away or a play away from running them down, which I was really proud of, which should give our team a lot of belief."

Despite a poor start, the Dragons were in the game at 6-6 midway through the first half before a controversial sin-binning handed the Panthers a man advantage.

Su'A was sent to the sheds for a late hit on Penrith halfback Sean O'Sullivan and the Panthers quickly took control.

By the time Su'A had returned to the field, Penrith had scored two tries and a penalty goal, the margin blowing out to 20-6 courtesy of some soft defence.

It was a period in which George Burgess was penalised for a late elbow on Jarome Luai, the Englishman sure to attract the attention from the match-review committee.

The incident came just three minutes into what was an unhappy return to the NRL for Burgess.

Tariq Sims also made his return to first grade on Friday night, the NSW forward a late inclusion into the starting side.

St George Illawarra lost Andrew McCullough early in the second half with a dislocated left elbow.

The Dragons youngsters were impressive in attack, Tyrell Sloan crossing for a try and Talatau Amone claiming a try assist, however they were found out in defence on a number of occasions.

Penrith repeatedly sent big bodies at the youngsters, Viliame Kikau and Spencer Leniu bursting through some poor attempt at tackles.

The Dragons were off the pace throughout the opening 20 minutes, Penrith dominating from the opening whistle.

The pressure eventually translated to points, Kikau charging down a Ben Hunt kick and racing away to hand his side a 6-0 lead.

St George Illawarra slowly settled down and worked their way into the match, generating a handful of attacking chances, Sloan eventually levelling the scores with a brilliant individual effort.

St George Illawarra were soon on the defensive, the pressure only building when Su'A was controversially sin-binned for a late tackle on Sean O'Sullivan.

It didn't take the Penrith long to strike, Spencer Leniu crashing over from close range.

Another Dragons error followed soon after, this time Kikau the man to break through some more soft defence.

Back to 13 men, St George Illawarra burst out of the blocks in the second half.

That saw Su'A cross in the 50th minute and the Dragons looked a chance of running over the top of their rivals.

Lomax's sin-binning for obstructing the Panthers kick chase threatened to halt the momentum, but this time St George Illawarra dug in while down a man.

The Dragons dominated the second half, the side holding 76% of possession throughout the final 10 minutes of the contest.

Lomax eventually had a try of his own with just three minutes to play, the margin slashed to four.

St George Illawarra had one last chance to attack, Amone spilling the ball in the final 30 seconds.

It was a disappointing finish, but there is plenty the Dragons will take from the result.

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