NRL 2021: Dragons beat Knights in craziest game of year

This match had absolutely everything — long-term injuries, reports, brawls, dud calls and an unexpected upset.

The Dragons were denied a first-half try after a double bunker blunder. Picture: Ashley Feder/Getty

Not even an 18th man could have saved the Knights on a horror Sunday afternoon in the Hunter as injuries, ill-discipline and Tariq Sims combined to place Newcastle’s season on life support.

Much was made in the build-up about Tyson Frizell taking on his former side, but it was Sims – the ex-Knight – who terrorised his old teammates with two tries, a couple of charge-downs and a string of big hits to make it three wins on the trot for the Red V.

Sims was constantly in the face of Newcastle’s halves, and it was fitting that his second blocked kick of the afternoon led to points as he scooped up Blake Green’s attempted clearance to cap a brilliant second-half comeback.

Watch The 2021 NRL Telstra Premiership Live & On-Demand with No Ad-Breaks During Play. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

“He had a slow start to the year but last week he was very good and he was in everything today,” Anthony Griffin said.

“He’s got his physicality back on both sides of the ball. He’s enjoying his football like most of them.”

Corey Norman of the Dragons (Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)

This was a Dragons team that would have lost to the Dapto under-8s according to Dean Young after they were humiliated by Newcastle in the corresponding clash last season.

Now they are 3-1 at Easter and their fickle fans are starting to believe that Hook might just be the man to lead their resurrection.

“I’m very respectful of what’s happened in the past at this club, but obviously we needed to improve and change a lot of things that we did as a club,” the coach said.

“They’ve got a real desire to play for each other. We’re finding a way to win at the moment.”

Dragons players celebrate a try during the round four NRL match between the Newcastle Knights and the St George Illawarra Dragons at McDonald Jones Stadium (Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)

SEASON IN THE BALANCE

Newcastle’s season hangs in the balance after Mitchell Pearce suffered a suspected pectoral tear, Tex Hoy limped off with a hamstring injury, Kurt Mann was knocked out, firebrand David Klemmer was placed on report twice and Jacob Saifiti was also cautioned by the referee on an afternoon that has derailed their top eight chances.

Pearce – who chalked up 300 games in the NRL last week – is facing an extended stint on the sideline after he came off in the first half with a left pectoral injury, with O’Brien bracing for a “sleepless night”.

In some positive news, Kalyn Ponga may return from a shoulder injury.

“If he’s not right then he’s not right,” O’Brien said.

“I won’t rush him. It’s already carnage…I don’t need to add to that by making rash decisions.

BULL SEES RED

It wasn’t quite Chief v Spud, but David Klemmer was a man possessed and could face some scrutiny from the match review committee after being placed on report twice in the space of 15 minutes.

A fired up David Klemmer of the Knights (Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)

Bulls go ballistic when they see red, but Klemmer must have been triggered by Newcastle’s hi-vis orange jersey after he appeared to elbow Blake Lawrie to concede excellent field position when his side should have had a scrum.

He was irate at the decision, telling referee Peter Gough that the young Dragon had landed a headbutt to start the scuffle.

Not long after, the former representative prop was on report again for a late shot on Corey Norman that saw him taken off the field before he completely lost the plot.

Fellow big man Jacob Saifiti is also on report for his part in a fight that started when Knights players took exception to Ravalawa’s carry-on after he unintentionally knocked Mann out.

GUS BLOWS GASKET AS BUNKER FORGETS OWN RULE

- Paul Crawley

Rugby league legends were in uproar in Newcastle on Sunday afternoon when St George Illawarra had an opening try disallowed following a controversial decision by the bunker.

The Dragons looked to have scored a terrific try when Matt Dufty and Zac Lomax combined brilliantly to put Mikaele Ravalawa over in the 9th minute.

It came after the Dragons had been forced to defend back-to-back sets on their own tryline before the Knights came up with two penalties to march the visitors up the other end of the field.

But some time after the on-field match officials had awarded the “try” to Ravalawa and Zac Lomax was lining up the conversion, the bunker intervened after spotting Josh Kerr touching the cutout pass from Dufty to Lomax.

In Channel 9 commentary, Peter Sterling was baffled: “I’m not convinced it went forward”.

That’s Disgusting it never went forward #NRLKnightsDragons

— Craig (@Balmaincraig) April 4, 2021

Wow what a joke of a call. Bunker madness. #NRLKnightsDragons

— Rugby League News (@RugbyLeagueNews) April 4, 2021

What a bad review system. #NRLKnightsDragons

— Elijah (@Elijah_in_Exile) April 4, 2021

That is ridiculous 😂😂😂 what is this game coming to ?#NRLKnightsDragons

— KC (@kc_the1) April 4, 2021

That’s absolutely disgraceful officiating. #nrlknightsdragons

— Tom Carmody* (@TomCarmody95) April 4, 2021

Rubbish decision by Bunker. It didn’t go forward in any event. Kills the game #NRLKnightsDragons

— Ian Atkins (@yarrawa) April 4, 2021

Not a dragons fan but that has to be one of the worst decisions i have ever seen @NRL@FOXNRL#nrlknightsdragons

— Ignatius (@piraxtirii) April 4, 2021

The bunker is a joke no way that was forward 😡😡 #NRLKnightsDragons

— stephanie williams (@steph_983) April 4, 2021

What is the point of awarding the try when we’re going to be sat here waiting for the video ref to review it #nrlknightsdragons

— ExHullKiwi (@HullKiwi) April 4, 2021

While Phil Gould blew up: “I hate the bunker.

“Sorry, someone is up there with a magnifying glass trying to disallow tries. You explain to me why that was good for the game?”

And just to rub salt in, the Knights scored soon after when Gehamat Shibasaki swooped on a dropped ball from Cody Ramsey who couldn’t handle a towering Mitchell Pearce bomb as Newcastle seized a 6-09 lead.

Adding to the confusion, Gould later pointed out a time mix up.

The rule states if the bunker hasn’t made a decision within 80 seconds time off should be called. On this occasion Channel 9 claimed 98 seconds had elapsed.

But that was nothing compared to a howler by the touch judge who halted any chance of a Newcastle comeback by calling a Mitch Barnett pass forward with six minutes to go.

“I thought it was a tough call,” Griffin said. “It was hard to see where that went forward.”

Originally published as NRL 2021: Dragons beat Knights in craziest game of year