Matt Dufty try in final minutes gives St George Illawarra 20-18 win over Parramatta
THE Dragons were dusty, sluggish and struggling for 78 minutes against Parramatta. Then along came Matt Dufty to break blue and gold hearts and steal it for the Red V.
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BEN Hunt put through a grubber kick and it was long.
Loooong.
Heading so quickly over the tryline and towards that back fence — with St George Illawarra trailing by 10 and the clock ticking down — you had to think most of his critics were already a dozen characters into yet another Twitter tirade.
But then, well, that Steeden bounced up. Sat in the air as time stood still. Or something like that.
Regardless, it held up long enough for Dragons centre Euan Aitken, who came charging through, dived out, try.
LISTEN! Nick Campton and Joe Barton break down Origin II and the rest of rep weekend, ask which players have changed their destiny and look at all the action from Round 15.
So ding, dong the witch is … oh, dear.
Only four days after being slammed for his efforts with Queensland in Origin II, Hunt orchestrated the play that sparked a stunning comeback against the luckless Parramatta Eels. Trailing by 10 points with seven minutes to play, the Six Million Dollar Man opted for the very attacking ploy — a grubber kick — that he’d not only struggled with against the NSW Blues, but been heavily baked for.
So it was a courageous punt. Better, successful.
Within four minutes, Dragons fullback Matt Dufty crossed again — this time via a kick by No. 6 Gareth Widdop — to see off what was shaping as the greatest upset of 2018.
Asked afterwards about the irony of the Hunt play, Dragons coach Paul McGregor said: “Big moments, big players and we got the job done when needed”.
So the barbs didn’t sting?
“Oh, nobody just lets it wash over them easy,” the coach continued. “Criticism hurts.
“It’s just a matter of how long it sticks with you for. And how you get on with it.
“So you want to drop the brick and move on.
“And the best way to do that was for Ben to play tonight. And he did.”
Asked if it was important he played so quickly after his Origin shocker, McGregor laughed: “It was important for everyone on the field.
“And the team. And the club. But there were other times out there where Ben would’ve liked to have his time again. But the timing of the try was obviously important.
“We’ll just take the two points and get out of here.”
Which was fair enough too.
Because for so much of this one, St George Illawarra looked deader than a pig with that apple in its mouth.
Indeed, if Parramatta were a racehorse, they would’ve been swabbed post match.
At the very least, checked for painted white socks.
Truly, how could this be the same mob we’ve watched all year?
Here was an Eels outfit that looked energetic. Confident.
Even … gasp … scoring tries.
Better, Jarryd Hayne was in the thick of it too.
Heavily criticised for months, The Plane not only had several strong touches throughout the first half, but scored a try with only eight minutes gone in the second.
And, no, there wasn’t any signature celebration.
Given their season, you could hardly blame the centre for showing caution. And so it proved.
For St George Illawarra, the win also continued a strong run through the Origin period for a club that, with something of a history of collapsing around this time of year, many are predicting to do again.
“Everyone called us May premiers. Now we’re June premiers,” McGregor shrugged.
“For me, it’s just important to get through such an important period of the year winning games and with people healthy. We know what we’re about.”
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 20 (M Dufty 2 E Aitken tries G Widdop 4 goals) bt PARRAMATTA 18 (N Brown B French J Hayne tries C Gutherson 3 goals) at WIN Stadium. Referee: Ben Cummins, Peter Gough. Crowd: 6,933