Gareth Widdop stars as St George Illawarra cruise to 35-10 win over Manly

A BRILLIANT performance from Gareth Widdop has paved the way for the Dragons 35-10 demolition of Manly at Lottoland.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — APRIL 08: Euan Aitken of the Dragons celebrates with team mates after scoring a try during the round six NRL match between the Manly Sea Eagles and the St George Illawarra Dragons at Lottoland on April 8, 2017 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

NO Josh Dugan, no worries.

In past seasons, St George Illawarra have struggled without their star fullback — winning just 33.3 per cent of matches in his absence.

In 2017, though, the Dragons are marching to a different beat of the drum. Inspired by a masterclass from skipper Gareth Widdop, Paul McGregor’s men maintained their winning ways with an impressive 35-10 victory over Manly at Brookvale Oval.

The win is their fourth straight, leaving them temporarily in first position after six rounds with Melbourne to play Sunday. More significantly, the Dragons proved they can excel without Dugan.

Widdop continued his stellar early-season form with a composed and classy display in attack and defence.

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The Englishman, who is off contract this season, scored two tries, kicked five goals and a field goal to become the club’s second highest scorer behind Jamie Soward.

Halfback Josh McCrone also produced three try assists and an accurate kicking game to help the Dragons control proceedings, while centre Euan Aitken bagged two tries.

The match, though, was won in the forwards. Dragons lock Jack de Belin did his NSW Origin chances no harm with a try and powerful running game, while fellow Blues candidate Paul Vaughan had another strong effort.

The once disjointed Dragons are also breathing fire in attack.

Last season it took the joint-venture club 10 rounds to score 100 points.

Tom Trbojevic had a game to forget.

After six rounds of 2017, they are leading the NRL with 163 points.

The only negative for the Dragons was an injury to representative forward Tyson Frizell, who left in the first half and didn’t return. Frizell will have scans in the coming days to determine the full extent of his oblique muscle strain.

McGregor was thrilled with the win, labelling it his team’s most complete performance this season.

“It was a good opportunity for us to show that our character and resilience is real,” McGregor said. “They said it’s a big month ahead of us, but we are just taking it one week at a time. The first one was to come to a ground that hasn’t been good in the past.”

Jack De Belin was fantastic in the middle of the field.

McGregor was particularly pleased with the effort of Widdop as skipper.

“Gareth has been in the best form of his whole career, not just today,” he said. “So he just continued on with what he has done. It was a great win.”

For Manly, it was a forgettable afternoon and a throwback to their average form at Brookvale last season when they claimed just three wins.

Euan Aitken raced over for a double in the first half.

The Sea Eagles looked sluggish in attack, while their ball control was substandard and it cost them on the scoreboard. Manly also have injuries to worry about, with winger Matthew Wright leaving the field in the second half after hurting his left leg.

Aku Uate hurt his glute in the warm-up and played no further part in proceedings.

Sea Eagles coach Trent Barrett was filthy with the loss, blaming poor energy and effort. “That was very disappointing to say the least,” Barrett said.

“I thought we were never in it to be honest. We looked flat and unenthused, which is probably the complete opposite of our last three weeks.

“It’s certainly not good enough and not good enough at home. To concede that many points at home is not on. We did look tired, but that is not an excuse.”