PROBLEMS can't be solved unless they are acknowledged first.
At St George Illawarra, the eternal problem is a bare trophy cabinet that stares into the face of relentless expectation.
While there are no survivors from the team that lost the 1999 Grand Final in heartbreaking circumstances to Melbourne, a handful remain with a score to settle from 2005, the season St George Illawarra fell unexpectedly at the penultimate hurdle to the Wests Tigers.
For Ben Creagh, Dean Young, Ben Hornby and Justin Poore, that shattering defeat still holds deep scars. But speaking after last night's win that almost certainly guarantees the Dragons their first-ever minor premiership, Poore confronted those demons to explain why version 2009 will right that haunting wrong.
"I'm going to be brutally honest here . . . in 2005 we thought we were going to win the comp," Poore admitted. "It's a totally different feel this year.
"We are concentrating on each game coming up. We are not interested in games four weeks ahead, or whether we finish first or eighth.
Everyone is relishing the moment here. We know we've created something special." Poore and the rest of his teammates reaffirmed as much when coach Wayne Bennett gathered them together for a timely meeting at WIN Stadium on Tuesday.
Appreciating the club's record of not meeting expectation, Bennett questioned his men about the pressure they felt four points clear on top. According to Poore and veteran winger Wendell Sailor, the responses were heartening.
"It was in-house, something between ourselves," Poore said. "Wayne asked us a few questions. We sat there as a team and we made some commitments together." Sailor - a born winner in a team of bridesmaids - added: "There's no pressure here. When everyone asks, 'Are the Dragons chokers?', I tell them this is a new team. "A couple of blokes have had a few disappointments, but it doesn't worry us.
When Wayne told us what he wanted to do with this team, we all bought into something huge."
Facing a near-capacity crowd intent on toasting Penrith's 1000th game with victory, the Dragons barely flinched. Their performance was hardly one for the season annals, but the resounding 19-point final margin illustrated just how far ahead of the pack they really are.
A mistake-marred and curiously flat first half saw St George Illawarra lead 12-0, thanks to tries to back-rowers Creagh and Jeremy Smith that bookended the opening 40 minutes. Penrith's lone charge through the red and white wall came just three minutes after the break, when returning utility Luke Lewis barged over to breathe life into an otherwise moribund contest.
Lewis then looked to have brought the hosts level five minutes later, but video referee Steve Clark declined to extended Penrith the benefit of the doubt over a scrappy contest for Wade Graham's bomb. Needing little more than a sniff to fire up this year, the let-off was enough to click St George Illawarra back into gear through their main man Jamie Soward.
With nothing on near his own line in the 51st minute, the pivot showed blistering pace to dash clear and then smoke Penrith fullback Jarrod Sammut on a breath-taking 80m run.
As Sammut lay on the ground cursing, the ever-chirpy Sailor gave the tiny fullback a gobful to rub in the game's defining play.
"That's the way I play - I like to heckle a bit," laughed Sailor, who humoured the crowd after his buttocks were exposed in a tackle late in the game.
"(Sammut) plays the game hard, so I let him know that Sowie had taken him to school."
Bennett admitted St George Illawarra were well below their best, but was nonetheless happy to bank another two competition points.
"We've got to get them through without killing them on the training paddock. I really don't have a clear view on (resting players). There's a lot of uncharted waters to come."
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...continue-carnage/story-e6frexnr-1225759144452
