Cronulla snatch late 18-14 victory over a gallant St George Illawarra
JUST when you thought the drugs scandal wouldn’t go away, thank goodness for referees. Once again a contentious call has Dragons coach Paul McGregor scratching his head.
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JUST when you thought the NRL drugs scandal wouldn’t go away, thank goodness for referees.
On a night Cronulla showed that when it comes to winning ugly and winning tough the reigning premiers remain the kings, Paul McGregor could only shake his head after two controversial calls sent St George Illawarra crashing to its third straight defeat.
Without injured stars Gareth Widdop and Josh Dugan, McGregor had every right to be proud of his players but blowing up at match officials after going down 18-14 on the back of two second half blunders that resulted in tries to Sosaia Feki.
Feki scored the match winner in the 72nd minute after officials missed a Wade Graham fumble in the play the ball.
And that came after an earlier try where Feki scored off a forward pass.
The crucial win moved Cronulla into second spot on the NRL ladder but could cost the Dragons their place in the top four by the end of the round.
Asked his thoughts, McGregor said: “It is frustrating to be honest with you.
“The last two weeks I have spoken to Tony (Archer) about decisions and I think 11 of the 19 I sent away were incorrect.
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“Then tonight you have all seen the decisions tonight, some were pretty tough.”
Asked specifically about the forward pass try, McGregor added: “It was a forward pass.
“Look, they are human so they are going to make bad decisions or wrong calls.
“That is just part of the game. When it costs you a result it hurts.
“But look, they are like players. Players make errors and coaches make errors and referees make errors.”
Even in defeat, the under strength Dragons earned respect from their local rivals after they were also forced to contend with losing Euan Aitken to a hamstring injury midway through the first half that forced a complete backline reshuffle.
With Kurt Mann moving from five-eighth to wing, young Jai Field showed glimpses of his potential.
But the absence of Widdop really cost the Dragons, putting pressure on Josh McCrone’s kicking game and it’s fair to say that had a significant influence on the match.
The Sharks were hardly clinical but worked hard for their win, fighting to the death despite completing at 53 per cent to the Dragons 93 per cent.
“The effort was outstanding, the attitude was great,” Shane Flanagan said.
“Our execution wasn’t great.
“But they just kept turning up for each other.
“For us to win a game when they are completing so high is pretty good.”
Feki’s winning try summed up the Sharks luck.
On the last tackle and after a play-the-ball knock on from Graham, Chad Townsend threw a Hail Mary ball that found Jack Bird who delivered it to Feki after it bounced off Tariq Sims’ leg.
Flanagan gave special praise to Bird, as tough in defence as he was dangerous in attack.
“I thought Jack Bird was our best player by far,” Flanagan said.
“Just the way he competed and he put that near try on for Wade (Graham), he went to five-eighth for a little bit … just his competitive nature stood out tonight.”
The Dragons looked home when Paul Vaughan put Russell Packer over for his first try in Dragons’ colours to give them a 14-12 lead after they took an 8-6 margin into halftime.
Vaughan produced another powerhouse display to push his NSW Origin claims, running for 191m that was easily the most of any forward.
As well as his try assist for Packer, Vaughan came up with his third try of the season off some clever Cameron McInnes dummy half play.
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