Josh Dugan all but sealed the NSW State of Origin fullback jersey despite St George Illawarra going down to South Sydney 16-10 at ANZ Stadium on Monday night.
Dugan was a standout in a losing side as the Rabbitohs snapped a three-game losing streak to get their premiership defence back on track.
He was not expected to play after copping a knee injury he suffered in last week’s trans-Tasman Test and made a timely statement of his value to Blues coach Laurie Daley.
>>>See how all the action unfolded in our live blog.
After Brett Stewart returned to form with a two-try effort for Manly on Sunday, Dugan ensured he stayed at the top of the Blues pecking order with a busy performance.
He was excellent in attack and defence, making a game-high 268 metres, including a scintillating 70 metre break which gave the Dragons a late opportunity to even up the game, however the attacking raid ultimately failed.
The Rabbitohs went up 2-0 after the Dragons were penalised for a Mike Cooper high shot on John Sutton, the former Souths captain poked in the eye during the incident.
Sutton, in his first game back from a broken jaw, came off soon after and did not returning for the rest of the match.
Dylan Walker and Adam Reynolds made timely returns to push their State of Origin claims however were made to look ordinary when Peter Mata’utia sliced through their attempted tackles and put Gareth Widdop over.
The Rabbitohs evened things up when Greg Inglis threw a lovely cut-out pass for Aaron Gray who crossed for his first NRL try.
Jason Nightingale scored in the shadows of halftime but the Dragons winger undid his hard work when he produced a soft attempted tackle on his own goal-line which allowed Gray to get his second and even things up.
The Rabbitohs went ahead through Alex Johnston when they were gifted four sets of six on the Dragons’ goal-line after receiving three tough penalties and hung on for the win.
After announcing his move the to the Warriors next year, Souths did not start Issac Luke, opting to run Cameron McInnes at hooker.
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
Sutton is OK but Reynolds is gone for 6-8 with a broken thumb
blacksafake
Guest
He did get motm on mmm from sterlo & johns,both said he was the only choice.
steveng
Roar Rookie
There is also bad news again, for the Rabbitohs in that Suttons injury could be a very bad one and he could be off the field for a long time, again. He was very effective before his 'poke in the eye' by again, an Englishman, these poms are doing the Rabbitohs some very bad things in 2015, lol first Graham and now Cooper. Bad luck for Sutton hope he makes a good and quick recovery and his eye socket injury is not as bad as its been diagnosed.
Ken
Guest
That's what you took out of the game last night? The premiers playing as well as they have all year scored 3 tries and that's the Dragons done. OK
Charles NSW
Guest
In NSW SOO both Dugan and Stewart must be included, one in fullback and the other in the centres. In regards to the Dragons last night they looked a bit flat in both defence and attack Still played well enough and will learn from it
steveng
Roar Rookie
Sorry that should have been 3 tries not 2 tries, in my comment above.
Zedman
Roar Rookie
Not often Motm comes from the losing side, though Dugan would have been a worthy winner last night.
steveng
Roar Rookie
If you are wrapping Dugan so much why didn't he get 'man of the match'? And as far as Reynolds is concerned I don't think that he was 100% as he stayed back in tackles and didn't even feed some of the scrums in certain parts of the game (especially in the second half). As far as Dylan Walker and Adam Reynolds, 'were made to look ordinary when Peter Mata’utia sliced through their attempted tackles and put Gareth Widdop over' was concerned, that was because Sutton was off and they had to do the cover defence in the backline. I thought that under the circumstances and Souths injury problems, Souths performed remarkably, their defence and their 2 tries were excellent especially when the Dragons are the so called benchmark of the completion and you have given Dugan such a big wrap that he did everything bar win the game for the Dragons on his own. Luke is injured and that is why he didn't start the game, but once he came on you could see the difference in the Souths attack, it was quicker and snappier than when he was not on the field. A great effort by the Rabbits and their defence was excellent and awesome to watch.
Brendan
Guest
I think Luke will be back to starting soon. My read on the demotion was that is partly form related and partly injury related (elbow). Souths looked much more composed with Reynolds back and Gray looks to be a good youngster. Defence still needs some work though
The Koomz
Guest
Holes are starting to appear in the Dragons amour.
Zedman
Roar Rookie
Does this mean Luke will start off the bench for the rest of the season?