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- <LI class="byline first ">By James Hooper at ANZ Stadium
- From: The Sunday Telegraph
Relentless: Isaac Luke bursts through the St George defence at ANZ Stadium last night. Picture: Mark Evans Source: The Daily Telegraph
ST GEORGE Illawarra are officially in a slump and in danger of losing the minor premiership after crashing to a third successive loss - this time a hammering from South Sydney.
hokingDespite being out of finals contention, the Rabbitohs put seven tries past the Dragons' normally impregnable defence to have alarm bells ringing in the ears of coach Wayne Bennett with the finals just two weeks away.
Favourites to hoist the J J Giltinan Shield as minor premiers and branded cocky a month ago, the wheels have fallen off the Dragons in spectacular style as they crashed to their third loss in 14 days.
The 35-point margin made it the Dragons' worst loss of the year and it was also a record victory for the Rabbitohs against any Dragons team going back to 1921.
"I don't know where it came from actually. I certainly wouldn't have picked it before the game," Dragons coach Wayne Bennett said.
"The other two (losses) were manageable, but I don't know where tonight came from. It's a mental thing so they can turn it around as quickly as they lost it.
Captain Ben Hornby described the performance as "embarrassing".
"That's the best way to sum it up. All season we have prided ourselves on our defence and tonight it was non-existent."
John Sutton started the rot when he powered over from close range after five minutes, hitting and spinning through the Dragons defence.
Chris Sandow converted for a 6-0 lead.
St George Illawarra were denied a slick set-piece try to left winger Brett Morris when Rabbitohs fullback Nathan Merritt produced a superb cover tackle to force the flyer into touch.
They blew another chance five minutes later, this time when centre Matt Cooper dropped the ball over the line.
The Rabbitohs raced to a 12-0 lead when Sutton held up a perfectly timed ball for Best to make the Dragons defence look second-rate.
But their luck ran out when centre Chris McQueen fumbled the kick-off, inviting the Dragons back into the match. The red and white army finally had cause for celebration in the 23rd minute when five-eighth Jamie Soward finished off a Beau Scott break.
Soward converted his own try for a 12-6 scoreline, but the Dragons were visibly off colour.
From the following set, Soward went for a 40/20 only to kick the ball out on the full.
The wheels really came off for the Dragons when Sandow drifted across field and found backrower Ben Lowe running an angle for an 18-6 lead.
The intensity increased near the end of the first half as the Dragons became more desperate. Backrower Matt Prior appeared to accidentally poke Souths opposite David Fa'alogo in the eye before Scott caught Merritt with a knee with two minutes remaining.
Sandow kicked a field goal on the stroke of halftime to stretch the lead to 19-6.
The Dragons continued to self-destruct in the second half as the game threatened to explode.
The first flashpoint came when Dragons centre Scott lashed out at Merritt with a kick, the Souths custodian standing over the top of Scott before being pulled away by Wendell Sailor.
The second was reminiscent of the classic nose-to-nose confrontation between "Raging Bull" Gorden Tallis and Terry Hill in State of Origin.
Dragons enforcer Jeremy Smith and Souths prop Jaiman Lowe stood toe-to-toe for several seconds as players rushed in.
At one point, it looked like there might be a headbutt but referee Ashley Klein moved quickly to calm the situation.
The rest of the half turned into one-way traffic as the Bunnies raced in tries with alarming ease against a side with designs on a premiership.
The Dragons will have to regroup quickly before they run into the red-hot Eels and a rampant Jarryd Hayne next Friday.
SOUTH SYDNEY 41 (J Sutton 2, J Simpson, B Lowe, N Merritt, C Best E Pettybourne tries; C Sandow 6 goals, field goal) ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 6 (J Soward try, goal). Referees: A Klein, S Lyons.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...title-favourites/story-e6frexnr-1225767369976