Phil Gould fires warning shot to 'mediocre' St. George Illawarra Dragons
18 hrs ago
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Phil Gould has fired a warning shot towards the St. George Illawarra Dragons after their heartbreaking final-minute loss to South Sydney on Friday night, saying they must review their performance 'honestly' despite an improved effort.
The Dragons have been abysmal in their past month of footy, but almost snatched a miraculous win from the jaws of defeat against the second-placed Rabbitohs.
Trailing by 12 points in the 66th minute and being dominated by the Rabbitohs all game, the Dragons managed to take a two-point lead with a minute on the clock, after a pair of quickfire tries to debutant Jason Saab and a huge 79th minute penalty goal from captain Gareth Widdop.
The elation of the Red V faithful was shortlived however, as the Rabbitohs reclaimed the short kick off and scored through winger Campbell Graham on the final siren.
Whilst the Dragons went within seconds of downing one of the premiership favourites and ending their winless streak, Gould says coach Paul McGregor and his players must be wary of the way they assess the sides efforts.
"The Dragons were better, and I think there's a real danger for the Dragons and their coach if they look at that and say 'okay that was a big improvement, we're back,'" he said on Macquarie Sports Radio's
The Gus Gould Show.
"They're not back. They weren't great. They've got a lot more in them than what they showed last night.
"There were some better signs, but there was still a lot of mediocre stuff there.
"If they accept well that was a great result we only just got beaten tonight by a good side, we could've easily won - it's going to come against them next week.
"They need to honestly review that game. Some of the things can't be fixed right now, they need to be fixed in the off-season, but they're not back yet
After being resting the previous week, Dragons halfback Ben Hunt had a mixed night in his return to the side, making two costly errors and missing two crucial tackles.
Gould was scathing of the performance from the Dragons' million dollar man in
Channel 9's post-game commentary. and doubled down on his comments on Saturday morning.
"I as really dissapointed the halfback Ben Hunt, I thought his performance was poor for a player that they rely so much upon," he said.
"He's the highest paid player in the club, not that money comes into it but there is a big responsibility that comes with that.
"He came up with so many poor plays in the game both in attack and defense and it was just not good enough, on the back of having a rest last week because he's comes through the Origin and he's tired.
"I can't imagine too many of the great halves in our game having a rest on his team when they're in such a position on the competition table."
For South Sydney it wasn't a win that would've filled supporters with confidence. Despite leading for most of the game and dominating the territory, the Rabbitohs failed to put the final sword through the Dragons and almost let the win slip.
Gould wasn't convinced by the side's performance given the way some of the other top sides in the competition are currently travelling, but is insistent on them turning it around.
"South Sydney aren't grabbing me at the moment," he said.
"They tend to be able to just get through games and they're bowling along in second position I know, but still a long way behind the Roosters and Melbourne Storm.
"The old coach Wayne Bennett, he's very cunning though. Whilst they're in this good position and they're sneaking through and winning games, I don't think he'll put a lot into them at the moment.
"We're still seven weeks from the finals, he knows it's a long race. It's what you do in September that counts.
"They've got a game against Melbourne Storm about three or four weeks out from the finals and I think he might target that one as measure of just how they're going.
"That will then give him a guide as what he's got to proivde over the last month of football leading into the finals."
Friday night's win has the Rabbitohs firmly entrenched in the top four in second position, four points clear of the Roosters and Raiders.
For the Dragons however, the devastating loss appears to have put the final nail in the coffin for what's been a dissapointing year.
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