Dragons brush aside tame Tigers

St George Illawarra have shown that tales of their demise are very much exaggerated as they brushed aside an under-par Wests Tigers 36-12 in Friday night’s NRL clash at Kogarah.

Dragons coach Steve Price binned the video of his side’s 30-4 humbling by Canterbury last Saturday and vowed his side would move on from one of their worst performances for years.

And his players showed no ill-effects as they raced out to a 24-6 halftime lead thanks to tries from Mitch Rein, Dan Hunt, Nathan Fien and Ben Hornby.

Dragon’s debutant Daniel Vidot and Ben Creagh crossed late in the game to seal the comprehensive victory, while Jamie Soward kicked six goals.

Beau Ryan and Joel Reddy were the try-scorers for the Tigers, who have now lost two successive matches and looked anything but pre-season premiership favourites as their much-vaunted attacking game failed to fire.

However, the main talking point from the game was three high shots in the first half in a bad-tempered encounter between two sides who have little love for one another.

Tigers stars Benji Marshall and Ryan were both collected by swinging arms in the opening stanza by Jeremy Latimore and Trent Merrin, with Adam Blair doing the same to Dragons winger Jason Nightingale.

Latimore and Merrin went unpunished for their hits and although Blair was penalised, no player was put on report by referees Tony Archer and Phil Haines.

All three incidents will almost certainly be scrutinised by the match review committee on Monday.

A lifting tackle by Robbie Farah on Hornby in the opening two minutes will also be looked at with the Tigers skipper escaping any sanctions on the field.

The Dragons were hit by the loss of starting centres Matt Cooper and Beau Scott to injury before the game, forcing Price into a late reshuffle with Kyle Stanley and Nathan Green deputising.

Brett Morris moved to fullback with new recruit Daniel Vidot handed a debut on the wing.

Morris revelled in his new role, producing a high-class performance that could see him stay in the position for the long-term.

The man who was originally earmarked for the role, Tim Moltzen, who decided to remain with the Tigers after the Dragons announced he had signed with them, endured a torrid evening.

The 22-year-old’s every touch was jeered by the 18,726-strong crowd, and they roared with delight when he knocked on at the base of the scrum in front of his own posts just before Fien’s try.

Soward, who was involved in a running verbal battle with Ryan all game, also had an impressive game at five-eighth as the Dragons sealed their second win in three games.

Price was pleased with the way his side bounced back from last week’s poor performance and said the display banished the memories of the heavy defeat to the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium.

“We showed tonight how the Dragons can play and put a lot of things right from last week,” Price said.

The rookie coach refused to condemn the referees for not placing any players on report for the high shots and felt there was no reason for any further action to be taken.

“I couldn’t see anything from up in the box. I didn’t see any intent and for me there is no major issues.”

Veteran Tigers coach Tim Sheens said he was not sure why no action was taken against Merrin for the shot on Ryan after Blair was penalised for an almost identical incident on Nightingale.

Play was stopped to allow the winger to receive treatment, but there was no penalty awarded to the Tigers.

“What ball we did get we threw it away and we trailed 9-3 on the penalty count and I think the crowd got them home from there,” Sheens said.

“I am perplexed about the penalty on Nightingale and then being told that the one on Ryan wasn’t a penalty because he was falling.

“I’ve never known where I stand with the judiciary and referees. You can have no penalty and a player cited and a then a referee puts a player on report and they let it go.

“They are on different pages sometimes.”