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Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett probably didn’t know whether to laugh or cry after St George Illawarra pulled off a 24-20 comeback win at Suncorp Stadium tonight.
Bennett will coach the Dragons next season and he would have liked what he saw tonight from his new NRL club.
But the result dented Brisbane’s attempts to paint themselves as serious threats to Melbourne and Manly for the premiership.
The Dragons fourth straight win over Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium also ruined champion five-eighth Darren Lockyer’s milestone 298th first grade appearance which eclipsed the previous best held by winger Michael Hancock.
Lockyer threw an overhead pass for centre Joel Moon to close the gap to 24-20 with two minutes left but fullback Denan Kemp’s wild pass into touch in the dying minute killed off Brisbane’s last throw of the dice.
Brisbane didn’t have Justin Hodges, Karmichael Hunt, Tonie Carroll and Greg Eastwood tonight and they will improve.
But after leading 12-0 for much of the first half they had few answers to the combined brilliance of Dragons duo Ben Hornby and rugby union-bound centre Mark Gasnier who scored two telling second half tries that turned the tide.
The win keeps the Dragons in the top-eight dog fight and almost certainly extinguishes any hope the Broncos had of sneaking into the top four.
The Dragons cashed in big time on an offside call against Brisbane forward Dave Taylor early in the second half.
Taylor sprinted out of the line and tackled Dragons five-eighth Ben Rogers on the last tackle only to be ruled off side by referee Jared Maxwell.
Centre Matt Cooper’s try off an inside pass from Hornby converted by Gasnier levelled the scores at 12-all before Hornby put Gasnier over to take the lead 18-14.
When Gasnier won a mad scramble for a Hornby bomb in the 63rd minute and converted from the sideline the Dragons were up 24-14.
Brisbane had two tries disallowed — one against winger Kaine Manihera on a “ref’s call” and the other when Taylor lost the ball in a three-man tackle in the 75th minute.
Wendell Sailor scored a homecoming try in front of a big crowd of 33,237 who gave the big winger a tough time every he handled the ball.
“Everyone knows I’m a passionate guy,” said Sailor who was booked to play in the Queensland Cup for the Burleigh Bears until injury earned him a late call up.
“It was a big night for Locky (Lockyer) but I was happy to spoil his party.
“I’m a likeable guy, regardless of what you read.”
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