Warrington coach Tony Smith has been left fuming over a coathanger tackle which went unpunished as St George Illawarra earned a gritty six-point victory in a spiteful opening to the World Club Series.
A sublime kicking performance from Dragons No.7 Benji Marshall, who laid on a try in each half in an encouraging display from the once-brilliant playmaker, and an error-free night to man of the match Josh Dugan, who scored the match-winner from the halfback’s banana kick in the 18-12 victory.
But it was the spectacular high tackle from inexperienced Dragons winger Eto Nabuli after 30 minutes which whipped the crowd into a lather and left Smith bemused at Halliwell Jones Stadium on Friday night (Saturday morning AEDT).
Nabuli was wrong-footed and caught livewire winger Kevin Penny around the neck, in a tackle in which the former Fijian porter had both feet off the ground.
Smith said it would’ve resulted in a send-off in the Super League and accused referee Ben Thaler of going in to the match with a plan to keep the penalty count down.
“I’d class that as a coathanger, definitely,” Smith said.
“I thought it was a shocker.”
Marshall, too, earned the ire of the 13,080-strong partisan crowd with a high shot of his own this one on lively Wolves five-eighth Gareth O’Brien.
“We played a lot of different rules tonight,” Smith added.
“I think our man in the middle wanted to not blow a penalty in the game and was forced into it in latter stages.”
Dragons coach Paul McGregor saw the incidents differently, and firmly believed the Nabuli tackle was not a send-off offence.
“It was a reflex action (and) the bloke jumped to his feet quicker than anyone,” he said.
“I don’t think there was too much in it.”
McGregor, whose side are considered outsiders to even make the NRL finals, would have been pleased by the displays of his halves, hooker Mitch Rein and Dugan all of whom made key plays in the victory.
A clever short ball from Marshall in the third minute split the defence and put bullocking back-rower Tyson Frizell, who left the field before halftime with concussion and didn’t return, into a gap to open the scoring.
Later, Widdop would put in a deft grubber for Joel Thompson to score as the Dragons grabbed a 12-10 halftime lead.
The pick of the tries came from O’Brien, who scored a scorching solo effort to level the scores at 6-all after 13 minutes.
The 23-year-old went on a superb 40m, snaking run in which he pierced through the Dragons’ defensive line by selling Marshall a dummy, and then stood up Dugan with another show-and-go to score next to the posts.
They equalised with a penalty goal following Marshall’s high shot on O’Brien with 20 minutes remaining.
But Marshall soon made up for his indiscretion, putting in a kick which was juggled by Warrington hooker Daryl Clark before being stolen from his grasp by Dugan, who planted down next to the posts for a converted try.
The Dragons’ victory ensures the NRL clubs have one hand on the World Club Series trophy, ahead of Brisbane’s clash with Wigan on Sunday morning (AEDT) and the World Club Challenge fixture between premiers South Sydney and St Helens.
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