The St George Illawarra Dragons premiership dream for 2005 is over, after going down 20-12 to the Wests Tigers in the first Preliminary Final at Aussie Stadium tonight.
Despite not leading at any stage of the contest, the Dragons had ample opportunities to overtake their rivals in the second half but unfortunately weren't able to execute at the right times.
Credit must be given to the red and whites defence who expended a lot of juice in the first half. With close to 70 % of the ball, all the field position and 'good' enough to not concede one penalty, the Tigers only went into the sheds ten in front.
Against a side that in the previous weeks put 50 on the Cowboys and over 30 on the Broncos, the Dragons hung tough and almost pulled the game out of the fire.
Coach Nathan Brown, while disappointed, spoke highly of his sides grit and tenacity and their ability to stay in a contest till the very end.
"I really couldn't complain about the effort tonight", said a crushed Brown.
"The Tigers have been the form side of the finals who have had some big wins lately, but our blokes really dug in, but they (Wests) were just too good on the night."
Not helping the Dragons cause was the loss of custodian Clint Greenshields early in the second half.
The diminutive number 1 left the field clutching at ribs after copping a knock. The injury forced a reshuffle, with Ben Hornby forced to move out of the halves and back to his old position.
"It showed how important Heady (Matt Head) is to us", said Brown.
The loss looked to have instantly sunk into Trent Barrett who resembled a hollow figure in the sheds.
"We had our chances, but it wasn't to be", said the despondent captain.
"It's just an empty feeling, I can't describe it, it's a pretty lonely feeling."
Barrett's leadership was inspirational, as to was Luke Bailey's go forward. Lance Thompson was once again a brick wall in defence and Dean Young pushed his claims for a Tri-Nations berth with a gutsy display.
The Dragons were under the pump after only four minutes when Benji Marshall opened his sides account. After a Dragons mistake only 25 metres out from their own line, Marshall sliced through out wide thanks to a planned scrum move. Brett Hodgson's conversion attempt failed.
The Tigers ambush continued for the next 15 minutes. Taking a leaf out of the Sharks book, Wests big men were doing their best to out bustle their more heralded opponents. The tactic was paying dividends with the Dragons making several uncharacteristic errors with the ball. In fact, the red and whites completions were more resembling Australia's unemployment rate.
On the 20 minute mark, St George Illawarra almost drew level after a skewed Ben Hornby kick bounced into the arms of a free running Ben Creagh, but referee Tim Mander called the second rower offside.
Just minutes later, the Tigers extended their lead to ten.
After getting a roll on through the earlier tackles, the black and golds found themselves only 20 metres out from the Dragons line. With players stacked left and right, Dene Halatau scooted straight down the middle from acting half and crashed over under the sticks. Hodgson made no mistakes from in front making the score 10 -0.
With the Tigers looking extremely dangerous, the Dragons had to stem the flow and it was Barrett who provided the impetus in attack.
With around 13 minutes left till the break, Barrett showed the courage of his convictions and spun the ball wide on his own 30 metre line. The cut out ball found Matt Cooper who after beating his man on the outside, set sail downfield. The centre - three quarter then drew in the last line of defence and linked up with Wes Naiqama who sprinted the final 40 metres to score out wide. Michael Ennis converted from the eastern touchline, closing the margin back to four.
Unfortunately for the red and whites, the mistakes soon returned, handing the Tigers more valuable field position. With only five minutes to the break, they were made to pay.
Reaching for the tent pegs, Wests had all but set up camp in the Dragons red zone. Despite St George Illawarra's steely defence, the flashy Tigers attack culminated in a great try to Chris Heighington.
"They'd be the best side in the comp at shifting the ball from side to side with skill and speed", said Brown.
Hodgson converted to put his side up 16 - 6, a lead they would take into half time.
The second half started with more fire and brimstone. After receiving no ball or field position in the opening stanza, the Dragons knew the flow would have to swing. Despite their attack becoming a little disjointed when Greenshields was escorted from the field, St George Illawarra dug in and got themselves back into it.
After finally receiving a couple of much needed penalties, Barrett took the initiative and scored a great captains try. Attacking close to the line, Barrett steamed onto a clever second man pass from dummy half and dived over under the sticks almost untouched. The try brought a humungous roar from the fans at the northern end who witnessed the brilliance up close.
At 16-12 and with still over a quarter of the game to go, a grandstand finish was on the cards.
But only four minutes later, the Dragons found themselves back under the pump when Halatau crossed for his second.
In a carbon copy effort to Heighinton's first half try, more dazzling quick hands from the Tigers found Halatau in space. The in form utility needed no invitation to find the line and before the Dragons knew it they were down 20 -12 and staring elimination in the face.
From that point on, the Dragons had countless opportunities to peg back the deficit, but continually came undone with a spilt ball or final pass not finding the right man.
Their best chance came with 15 minutes to go when Cooper was all but over out wide but couldn't handle the pass.
The final few minutes seemed like hours to many of the Dragons fans who were coming to terms with theirs sides untimely exit.
While devastated with the loss, Brown sounded a warning for season 2006.
"Tonight was a real heartbreaker, but we'll be pumped to comeback bigger and even better next year."
WESTS TIGERS 20 ( D Halatau 2, B Marshall, C Heighington tries; B Hodgson 2 goals) d. ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS 12 ( W Naiqama , T Barrett tries; M Ennis 2 goals)
At Aussie Stadium . Crowd 41 260 . Referee Tim Mander.
|
St George Leagues Club
NEWS
