Dragons flex title muscle with crushing 34-14 win over Storm

JUST in case you had any further questions about Paul McGregor’s Dragons being the real deal in 2018, stop and listen to what Craig Bellamy had to say.

Euan Aitken celebrates one of his two tries with Gareth Widdop.

THEY belted the pre-season favourites the Sydney Roosters on Anzac Day. And now St George Illawarra has put the cleaners through the reigning premiers.

They have won eight of their first nine games.

And now they have even won the support of the most respected coach in the game.

Just in case you had any further questions about Paul McGregor’s Dragons being the real deal in 2018, stop and listen to what Craig Bellamy had to say.

Dragons fans had barely stopped belting out another rendition of “When The Saints Go Marching In” on a fabulous autumn Sunday afternoon at one of the game’s great suburban grounds at Jubilee Oval, when Bellamy marched in to the media conference and delivered this.

“What we took out of today is that they are the benchmark,” Bellamy declared in the wake of the Dragons’ 34-14 victory.

“We know now that we have got some work to do.

“And I just said that to the players in there, and hopefully they will take that on board, because they are the benchmark. Without a doubt.”

Cameron McInnes celebrates with Dragons teammates after scoring a try.

Told of Bellamy’s comments, McGregor responded: “That is nice to hear off a great man and a great coach.

“Look, it was a nice scoreline to finish with.

“There was some moments in the game when we played some really good footy and there were other moments that we will learn from.”

McGregor was right.

It wasn’t the Dragons’ best performance of the season.

But given the significance of the occasion, it will go down as one of the most important if the Dragons can continue through to September.

No grand finals are won in May.

But right now, pretty much everyone agrees with Bellamy’s summation.

Even Cameron Smith.

Tariq Sims takes on the Storm defence.

With seven players in contention for NSW selection, Smith wasn’t about to go handing out free advice to Brad Fittler.

But the Storm and Queensland skipper agreed with his coach that the Dragons “are the benchmark team”.

And as for the Dragons’ Origin candidates, Smith said: “Teams usually that are playing really good footy usually have some sort of representation in the Origin sides, whether it is NSW or Queensland.

“You’d probably expect a couple of those players to be in there.”

All did themselves justice on Sunday.

While Gareth Widdop was probably the best on ground in the four tries to three win, kicking nine goals out of nine, the skipper sure had some competition.

Hooker Cameron McInnes scored a try and was outstanding in his head-to-head battle with Smith.

Centre Euan Aitken also bagged a double with another strong performance, while Tariq Sims was brutal as he continued his push for a Blues call-up.

Euan Aitken celebrates one of his two tries with Gareth Widdop.

Asked if the constant talk about Origin made him cringe, McGregor said: “Me and Gaz (Widdop) do.

“Every team goes through it. Teams that are successful hurt a bit more from it.

“But it is part of the game. We just have to manage it.

“And the biggest thing is the welfare of the player around Origin period. Because it is important to get wins now.

“If we do lose players, or when we do lose players, we can afford to rest them, freshen them up, or put them out there for smaller minutes.

“But that is sort of the unknown at the moment. It is still sort of three weeks before they select their side. Anything can happen within three weeks.”

James Graham on the charge for the Dragons.

On an afternoon where there were some strange decisions by the match officials, none were more baffling than a try denied to Josh Addo-Carr midway through the first half when the Dragons led 10-4.

While Addo-Carr finished with a hat-trick, referee Matt Cecchin denied this one, calling it back for an infringement in the play-the-ball.

Widdop claimed he heard the penalty blown.

Smith was not so sure.

Josh Addo-Carr scored a hat-trick but could have had more.

“I see penalties that could be given all the time to an attacking team and they let the play roll on,” Smith said.

“It was a strange one. It was a really, really strange one.

“Do we go on and win the game if we score that try, I am not too sure. We may not have.

“But (that was) pretty crucial part of the game. It is a six or eight point turnaround for the Dragons.”

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 34 (E Aitken 2 T Lafai C McInnes tries G Widdop 9 goals) bt MELBOURNE 14 (J Addo-Carr 3 tries C Smith goal) at UOW Jubilee Oval. Referee: Matt Cecchin, Chris Butler. Crowd: 19,173