NRL St George Illawarra Dragons v Manly Sea Eagles:
NRL Premiership
Gaz wins epic 90m footrace
GARETH Widdop produced a first-half masterclass to instrument a stunning Dragons win, but it was the arrival of Gen Next that will put the collective mind of Red V fans at rest.
Widdop was magical in leading the side to a monstrous 30-0 half-time lead, giving opposing half and Origin aspirant Daly Cherry-Evans a bath in the numbers department.
The St George Illawarra five-eighth produced three try assists, his own 90-metre intercept try, one massive 40/20, a forced dropout, and 14 individual points before the siren had sounded for the break.
MATCH CENTRE: Dragons 52 d Sea Eagles 22
Cherry-Evans — on the wrong end of the remarkable half-time scoreboard — had three errors, one running metre, and two missed tackles in a dismal 40 minutes of individual football.
And while Widdop was the mastermind behind the 52-22 Dragons win, it was young debutant Matt Dufty who allayed the collective fears of fans around the Illawarra and Kogarah.
Dufty stepped in to replace representative fullback Josh Dugan and he may have just earned himself the club’s No. 1 jumper for 2018.
Dugan is headed to old rival Cronulla next year and Paul McGregor needs to find a new fullback.
Dufty had a try, two try assists, and looked as comfortable as any young man stepping into the NRL arena for the first time.
Those try assists are what many believe are missing from the game of Dugan, who has previously been criticised for his inability to ball-play.
But Dufty’s running game looked equally as strong. He racked up 166 running metres and his try came from a stunning linebreak on the stroke of full time.
There’s been plenty of speculation as to who will play the role for St George Illawarra next year, but Dufty has just answered that question.
Breath easy, Dragons fans ... your club is in safe hands.
Lussick punches JDB, binned
1:11
A TALE OF 10 MINUTES
Would the NRL allow Manly to play with 12 men on the field and five on the bench for the remainder of the season?
No. Probably not.
But it’s a question Trent Barrett may want to pose to the governing body this week.
The Sea Eagles were soundly beaten by the Dragons in Wollongong on Sunday, but it was with 12 men on the field that Manly played their best.
Darcy Lussick was sin binned for punching Jack de Belin shortly after half time, and in the ensuing 10 minutes the Sea Eagles ran in three tries and brought the deficit back to just eight points.
As soon as Lussick returned to the field of play, Dragons got back on top and the Sea Eagles didn’t score again for the remainder of the game.
The loss will hurt the club’s hopes of finishing in the top four on the ladder and getting two bites of the finals cherry.
Jacob Host of the Dragons celebrates with teammate Jack De Belin.Source: Getty Images
THE REPORT
The game began in chaos when St George Illawarra lost forward Joel Thompson to an ankle injury in the warm-up, and then Manly lost Brad Parker to a HIA — which he later passed — in the opening two minutes.
The Dragons almost hit the board in the 5th minute when Tyson Frizell barged over but was held up over the line.
On the next set Manly coughed up the ball and then gave away a penalty, handing the Dragons an entire set inside their attacking 20 metres.
In the 8th minute it paid off with Jason Nightingale latching onto a Josh McCrone chip to land the first blow.
Six minutes later the Red V extended the lead when a Gareth Widdop chip bounce into the hands of Tim Lafai.
The Widdop conversion from the sideline made it 12-0.
Then it was Widdop’s turn to do it all himself, latching onto a stray Manly pass to intercept and sprint 90 metres in the 26th minute.
Widdop had to beat Cameron Cullen in a stunning footrace, and then converted his own try from the sideline to make it 18-0.
The Dragons extended the lead eight minutes later when Widdop’s cross-field kick was knocked down by Nene Macdonald to Euan Aitken to waltz across the line.
Widdop again nailed the kick from out wide to make it 24-0.
Jack De Belin of the Dragons is tackled.Source: Getty Images
On the next set Widdop nailed stunning 40-20. The next set he delivered a superb short ball to the chest of young Jacob Host to score the team’s fifth try.
And of course Widdop knocked over the extras.
It was 3-0 at the break — the club’s biggest half time lead since 2001 according to Fox Sports commentator Brenton Speed.
In the second half, Manly finally showed a bit of flare in attack and it resulted in some quick points.
Tom Trbojevic’s pass put Dylan Walker over as the Sea Eagles hit the board.
But a couple of minutes later they found themselves with 12 men on the field when Darcy Lussick was sin binned for punching Jack de Belin in the head.
De Belin was lucky to remain on the field himself, having thrown an elbow into Lussick’s face before the punch.
It didn’t matter to debutant and younger brother Joey Lussick, who darted from dummy half to score the next try in the 49th minute.
And still with a man down, Manly scored their third try in the 52nd minute to make it 30-18 and the comeback was well and truly on.
It was Jake Trbojevic who barged his way over the line and Jackson Hastings knocked the conversion over.
The fourth try — and third with Lussick in the bin — came through Akuila Uate latching onto a Cherry-Evans bomb and beating two Dragons to score.
It was 30-22 in the blink of an eye.
But all it took was for Lussick to enter the field of play again, an immediately the momentum shifted (we’re not suggesting his reappearance was the reason for the shift ... settle down!).
Dragons debutant Matt Dufty showed some fancy footwork and then threw a good ball to hit Paul Vaughan on the chest and put him over the line.
Widdop’s conversion made it 36-22 and the Dragons were able to let their breath out.
Dufty got his second try assist just minutes later when he threw the final pass to Nightingale, on the back of a good sweeping play from the Dragons.
Widdop missed the kick for the first time that day and the score was 40-22.
Euan Aitken scored the sealer in the 67th minute, on the end of a stunning Macdonald grubber on the run.
Aitken injured his wrist in scoring the try and had to leave the field.
Dragons young gun and debutant Matt Dufty put the result on ice when he sliced through the line and scored his first NRL try with just minutes on the clock.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...s/news-story/3a97117c2db66a5c96c9c9916c194eed
#NRLDragonsManly 46-22 with 13 minutes to go.#WomenInLeague#NRLpic.twitter.com/0d3DbjVW1J
