After a disappointing 2016 season, in which their attack and commitment came into question, the St George Illawarra Dragons have emerged as the surprise packets of 2017.
The second-worst attacking side last year, the Drgaons have won four of their first five matches to be sitting second on the ladder.
Not even their most die-hard fans would have imagined they be would where they are, given their dismal 2016 season in which they won ten games and missed out on finals football for the fourth time in five years.
In addition, the club also suffered a 32-14 defeat to the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the annual Charity Shield match in February; it was the fifth consecutive year in which the Dragons lost the pre-season fixture.
That result appeared to vindicate many pundits’ beliefs that they would be lucky to avoid the wooden spoon in 2017.
However, come Round 1 they thrashed pre-season premiership favourites the Penrith Panthers at home by 42-10, before falling back to old habits with a disappointing loss to the Parramatta Eels the following week.
Paul McGregor’s men were then given next to no chance of toppling the Sharks at their home ground, but put in a committed effort to win that match 16-10.
They were the first team to score 100 points in 2017 when they defeated the Warriors 26-12 at Kogarah Oval. This was a stark contrast to last season, when they were the last team to crack the ton.
Their status as the best attacking side this season continued when they defeated the Wests Tigers by 28-6 at ANZ Stadium yesterday.
The victory was marshaled by a hat-trick of tries from Jason Nightingale, who remains the sole survivor from the club’s 2010 premiership side. All three were set up by Gareth Widdop, whose dysfunctional partnership with the since-departed Benji Marshall was blamed by many for the disappointing 2016 season.
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He also set up another try in the second half and booted three of five conversions, with 100th-gamer Leeson Ah Mau also booting a penalty goal on the full-time siren.
The only negative news to come out of the victory was a hamstring injury to fullback Josh Dugan, ruling him out for at least a month, serving as an acid test of how far the club has come.
Over the next month-and-a-half, they will face each of their fellow top-six rivals, starting with the Sea Eagles (fifth) at Lottoland this Saturday night.
That is followed by matches against the Cowboys (fourth), Roosters (third), Storm (first), and a rematch against the Sharks (sixth) at Kogarah Oval the week after the representative bye round.
By the time they face the Warriors in Waikato on May 19, they will have not hopped on a plane for over 12 months, their last match outside of New South Wales or Australia coming against the Warriors on May 1 last year.
The improvement has come about following a brutal off-season in which the club underwent a comprehensive review of their footballing operations. Halfback Benji Marshall and hooker Mitch Rein were among those let go, with the latter stating the reason for his move to the Panthers was because the Dragons were “boring”.
Marshall, on the other hand, accepted some of the blame for the club’s dismal season and moved to the Brisbane Broncos, where he will almost certainly finish his distinguished NRL career.
On the flipside, the main key to the Dragons’ resurgence has been the commitment put in by the players over the off-season, as well as the impact Paul Vaughan and Cameron McInnes have made since arriving at the club.
And with Ben Hunt to arrive at the end of this season, things can only get better for the Dragons as they plot their path towards long-term success.
Under-siege coach McGregor is also set to be rewarded for the club’s improved form with a contract extension, marking somewhat of a turnaround after he had been tipped to become the first coach to be sacked in 2017.
As far as the remainder of the season is concerned, the club’s continued resurgence could see them as a dark horse for the finals, even though September is still five months away.
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