 The St George Illawarra Dragons have finished the Telstra Premiership preliminary rounds in 2nd place after overcoming a desperate Newcastle Knights outfit 36-28 at Oki Jubilee Stadium this afternoon.
The result means the Dragons will take on an out of sorts Cronulla side in a qualifying final at WIN Stadium next Saturday night.
The win capped off a remarkable competition for the Dragons. After losing five of their first six matches, the knives were out, but through great loyalty and hard work, the red and whites finished the season in 2nd place ( although finishing equal with Parramatta), their best finish as a merged entity. A feat that didn't go unnoticed to Barrett.
"It's been a great effort considering the hole we were in at the start of the year", said the proud five eighth.
"We dug ourselves out of a massive hole and we managed to finish equal first which is a big advantage heading into the semis."
Despite leading 22-6 at half time, the Dragons were pushed all the way by a Newcastle side, who despite already receiving the wooden spoon, were desperate for a victory.
Dragons coach Nathan Brown, while disappointed with one or two aspects of the performance, was happy to come away with the win, knowing the Novocastrians were going to throw all bar the kitchen sink at them.
"We had a slow start, then got better, then let them back in it again, but their good players, the likes of Joey ( Andrew Johns) and Bedsy (Danny Buderus)", said Brown.
"I reckon Joey's kicking game had all our kickers covered."
Captain Trent Barrett again put in a strong performance but said after the game that it was a victory his side had to have.
"It was definitely a danger game for us", said Barrett.
"It got pretty close out there but we grinded it out and I think we have big things to come, the semis are a totally new competition."
Along with Barrett, Luke Bailey put in a first class performance, as to did Shaun Timmins who did his best to keep Johns quiet.
The Dragons couldn't have possibly gotten off to a worse start after Hornby made an error from the scrum base, just ten metres out from his own line. Three rucks later, Steve Simpson crashed over out wide to open his sides account after four minutes. Johns made no mistakes with the conversion.
The home side then reverted to the basics, a formula that proved to be successful. On the ten minute mark Colin Best fielded a Barrett bomb, metres out from the Knights line. The prolific try scorer then stepped three Knights defenders to dive over next to the posts. Wes Naiqama converted to level the scores.
Just five minutes later the Dragons were in again through Ben Creagh.
After an uncharacteristic Johns error on his own line, the red and whites received the ball in valuable field position. Two ruck later, Creagh crashed over after receiving a crisp inside ball. Naiqama converted and in the blink of an eye the Dragons lead by six.
Now on a roll, the home side extended their lead to ten after Timmins crashed over.
Deliberately probing the Knights right side defence, a Barrett face ball found a barn-storming Timmins who steamrolled two Knights to score.
The next 20 minutes became a little scrappy with the greasy conditions causing the players grief. It was the Knights who were looking dangerous, but the red and white wall refused to yield.
With just two minutes before the break, the Dragons landed a killer blow through Bailey. Playing some inspired rugby league, the front rower barged through the visitors right hand side defence to score an important try. Michael Ennis converted from next to the posts to help give his side a 22-6 lead at the break.
Five minutes into the half, the Knights closed the margin to 12 after George Carmont finished off some clever work down the blind side.
After Michael Ennis was ruled to have committed to a double movement down one end of the field, the Knights went the length of the field in the next set and Brad Tighe scored to cap off an incredible five minutes of football. Johns conversion from the sideline had the home side looking over their shoulders at 22-16.
On their next possession, the Dragons kicked a penalty goal through Ennis which gave them an important eight point lead.
Despite having the wooden spoon firmly in their grasp, the Newcastle side refused to give in. After receiving a penalty, the Knights set up camp in the home sides red zone. A well timed short from Danny Buderus found Simpson who crashed over no less than five Dragons to score his second try. Johns conversion closed the gap to two points and with just under 20 minutes to go, a grandstand finish was on the cards.
In what was a see - sawing affair, the Dragons were the next to score. Jason Ryles was on the end of a Hornby short ball from close range and planted the ball down virtually untouched. The front rower then celebrated by breaking into a couple of push ups. His questionable technique would have brought a smile to strength and conditioning coach Paul MacGregor. Ennis' conversion gave the home side back their eight point lead.
The Knights still weren't finished however. Tighe grabbed his second with nine minutes left on the clock. The Johns conversion made the score an incredible 30 - 28.
But in front of a brave 15 867 fans, the Dragons were never going to be denied. With 90 seconds on the clock, Naiqama plucked a Barrett bomb out of the air and flopped over the try line to seal the victory.
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS 36 ( C Best, B Creagh, S Timmins, L Bailey, J Ryles, W Naiqama tries; W Naiqama 3 goals, M Ennis 3 goals) d. NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS 28 ( S Simpson 2, B Tighe 2, G Carmont tries; A Johns 4 goals) at Oki Jubilee Stadium. Crowd 15867. Referee Tony Archer.
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