By Dan Walsh
With four tries in 11 minutes, Christian Tuipulotu dusting off his ‘show me the money’ try celebrations and Luciano Leilua running amok, the Dragons turned entertainers and demolished the Titans in the process on Friday night.
For 30 minutes, the Dragons drove Shane Flanagan up the wall, around the bend and at one point, threatening to dunk himself in the Tasman Sea just over the back of WIN Stadium.
It was tough to watch as passes missed their mark and sailed into touch, putting the Dragons under a mountain of defensive pressure that translated to 54 tackles inside their own 20-metre zone. Until suddenly, it wasn’t. St George Illawarra were everything their coach and beleaguered fan base could hope for.
And the Gold Coast were just as suddenly heading home with a 38-16 defeat. A Wollongong drought that stretches right back across multiple incarnations of the franchise to 1989 has now hit 13 matches.
The difference? Among a few other elements, Leilua’s 25th-minute injection from the bench, when the Dragons were clinging to a 6-4 lead with little right to, though Shane Flanagan preferred to praise Dylan Egan’s defensive work under the pump.
The big man’s first party trick was one you wouldn’t expect from him, diving onto a loose ball in front of his own posts as the Titans threatened to score.
Luciano Leilua was in everything on Friday night.Credit: NRL Imagery
Leilua’s next move was exactly why fans, coaches and teammates alike will always believe in one of the NRL’s more enigmatic figures.
With the deft hands of a halfback and run threat of a 114kg back-rower, Leilua piloted Valentine Holmes through the Titans’ line in a slick move featuring half a dozen Dragons bodies in motion.
By half-time it was 24-4. Tyrell Sloan and Kyle Flanagan had four-pointers too thanks to extravagant ball movement and passes sticking when previously they had hit the deck.
Leilua once again featured out wide in Flanagan’s long-range effort as well, while Holmes knocked goals over from both sidelines and everywhere in between.
Already this season the Dragons have turned 12-point leads against the Rabbitohs and Eels into agonising, bewildering one-point losses.
So the Red V faithful held their breath. Even with a 20-point lead.
“We’ve got this get out in front by 12-0 [pattern] and we haven’t been able to go to another level. Tonight we did,” Flanagan said.
“We’re doing too much [defence]. It’s been the story of our year so far ... We’ve worked really hard at it. It’s not something I want a badge of honour for – defending your tryline really well.”
But when Flanagan threw a lovely 41st minute cut-out ball for Tuipulotu to add to his first-half try, surely they had ample breathing room.
Tuipulotu must have figured so anyway. Because after dotting down, he raced in front of WIN Stadium’s southern stand with his ‘show me the money’ motions and making it rain make believe cash.
Christian Tuipulotu celebrates a try.Credit: NRL Imagery
He and Flanagan had both agreed the try celebration was best kept on ice a few weeks ago.
But the Dragons’ first-half fortunes were proof enough that things change quickly in this game. So too Tuipulotu given he was limping off with a hamstring issue minutes later, but still making it rain from the bench to celebrate a first NRL try to Egan.
“I don’t care if he brings it back, as long as we’re winning and he’s scoring winning tries,” Flanagan said, joking afterwards that given Tuipulotu inked a one-year extension during the week, that he does have his money now.
Des Hasler’s Titans can only hope for similar turn in fortunes after a slew of second-half errors that ensured they never had a hope. Even with David Fifita running riot and engineering a kick-off try and AJ Brimson finishing off a helter skelter play with 90 seconds remaining.
The Dragons were simply the far better side – setting aside the first 30 minutes at least – with points, tries and celebrations to show for it.
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