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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Charles Dickens’ famous line has never been more relevant, and never more applicable then to St George Illawarra.
Despite putting in an average effort, the Dragons literally snatched victory from the Raiders’ clutches in a thrilling end to Thursday nights’ game.
Fans will no doubt recall the match fondly in the months to come, and they may well need to.
It was very much a typical Dragons performance, with their golden-point victory serving as a Band-Aid for what is becoming a very large wound.
Let’s be honest, Saints are going nowhere.
Their attack has fizzed for a while now and although they find wins every now and then to keep themselves in the hunt, they are hardly premiership material.
St George have only managed to score 105 points so far this season, only three ahead of struggling Newcastle, who have a game in hand at the time of writing.
And it’s not simply a case of bad form.
In 2015, the Dragons managed to finish eighth, but had the second worst points for record with only 435 points scored. That’s approximately 18 points a game.
This year looks even worse.
Having played ten matches, the Dragons are only averaging a paltry 10.5 points every time they run out. They need to find some creative spark, fast.
Gareth Widdop and Benji Marshall are the keys to this. Both are very capable playmakers with Widdop serving an apprenticeship alongside Cooper Cronk and Marshall needing no introduction.
In addition to this, they have one of the most talented and high-impact players in Josh Dugan to work with. Their forward pack has had a slow start as well, Tyson Frizell so far failing to reach his peak.
Marshall has clearly lost the brilliance he was known for at Wests but he’s not old enough to be passed his prime. We’ve seen glimpses of his best for St George over the past two years but he must inject himself more into the game.
He was nowhere to be seen during the Raiders game, in fact, his season stats are not pretty. He has zero try assists in ten games. Line-breaks, once the cornerstone of his game, register at two.
However, there is a bright side with the Dragons still managing to creep into the top eight despite their attacking troubles. Their defence is solid and they love nothing more than a good, old-fashioned arm wrestle.
And all it could take is Benji to explode out of nowhere, we’ve seen it happen before.
But with the road ahead looking tricky – Melbourne, North Queensland and Canterbury all lie in wait – St George need to wake up now.
And we know just how angry sleeping beasts get when woken.
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