St George Illawarra’s premiership ambitions are in tatters after captain Gareth Widdop suffered a shoulder injury in a shock 40-4 mauling by lowly Parramatta.
Eels veteran Jarryd Hayne torched the Dragons with his first hat-trick in five years, while Mitchell Moses also starred with a try and four try-assists.
The Dragons’ fifth defeat in six games mean they drop out of the top four for the first time this year, and could finish as low as sixth at the end of the round.
The win for the Eels – their biggest of the season – lifts them off the bottom of the ladder for the first time since March and leaves North Queensland in last place.
Having led the league for most of the year, the Dragons produced arguably their worst effort of the season against the side that occupied last spot for most of the season.
The meek showing in front of a 10,541 crowd should ring alarm bells for coach Paul McGregor.
And of most pressing concern will be the status of Widdop, who dislocated his shoulder midway through the first half when he awkwardly grounded a Moses grubber-kick in-goal.
Dragons’ staff were able to pop his shoulder back in, however Widdop failed to return.
The signs were ugly from the outset for the visitors, who gave away the first six penalties and could only watch Moses set up the game’s opening two tries for Hayne.
His looping 25m pass for Hayne’s first try was easily the highlight of the match.
Cameron McInnes’ 26th-minute sin-binning for repeated infringements kick-started a 12-minute blitz that included Widdop’s injury, and George Jennings crossing on a first-tackle play.
Hayne completed his hat-trick when the Dragons inexplicably allowed an Eels bomb to bounce just before the break to give his team a resounding 22-0 halftime lead.
A Luciano Leilua try early after the break gave the Dragons a sniff, however the Eels closed out any hope of a comeback with tries to Clint Gutherson, Moses and Siosaia Vave.
Moses came up with an electric 40m run to score, adding to his six goals from seven attempts to finish the night with a 16-point haul.
Ray Paks
Roar Rookie
Yeah pretty much says where the Dragons really are; this team would struggle in the Intrust competition. I'm not sure how a number of these players are still playing the way the are without some kind of consequence, it's unacceptable performance! Mary needs to run a fine tooth comb through this lot of slack bodies and bring in some boys from the Cutters, Lomax comes to mind. Pereira out, Dufty out, Aitken out, Widdop to bench (and have head shaved), and the forwards should be put on notice. Parra were ordinary against a crappy group of individuals. I AM JUST ABOUT SICK OF SEEING IT GO TO THE DOGS AFTER SUCH PROMISING STARTS. SICK TO THE BACK OF MY TEETH!!!
Nat
Roar Guru
What does reply have to do with the comment? You said you'd rather be in Manly's position than the Saints. You highlight the Dogs under Des. I do rate Turbo and I do like Manly, I've said as much many times. However, the club has far more significant issues both on/off the park than most and you're pointing the finger at others.
Nat
Roar Guru
I'd have to disagree EJ. Even if you limp into the finals you have a chance. I'm sure the 2014 Manly team went in with great expectations but look at the result, 3rd ends up taking on 7th. That's the beauty of finals footy. Last yr the Cowboys highlighted that and 2017 was the year Melbourne was so very dominant. NQ may never had a realistic chance but tell that to the Townsville locals. Based on roster only, Manly had no right to be near the finals last year and but for a few dodgy calls against Penrith - who knows. This year is one of the closest comps in many years, the favourites change every week. No on likes going out in straight sets but if you've earned the right to be in the race you have a chance.
Renegade
Roar Guru
40/20 I’m not sure it is manly after the storm...they’ve purchased about 30 players over the last two years and not many of that 30 have gotten better.
Forty Twenty
Guest
How could Manly ever compete with the Broncos? One of the best coaches ever , huge fan base , all the facilities and back up. Money coming in all over the place. We may as well throw in the towel. We're stuck with players like Tom Turbo who you don't rate so we must be buggered then.
Forty Twenty
Guest
Did you see the light at the end of the tunnel at the start of Haslers spell at Manly Souvalis? Regular floggings and terrible defence. Was anyone worried about Manly then? Since then we played in 4 GF's and won 2. Some extremely strong clubs with everything in their favor haven't won a title in that time. We've signed a defensive turnstile at 6 for next year? So what. Nobody was lining up to sign Shaun Lane either but they are now after Manly fixed him up. The best place in the NRL to go if you're struggling is the Storm and after that it's Manly. Check our history if you don't believe it. Start with Joe Gualavou .
Forty Twenty
Guest
A lot of the angst from Manly supporters in 2016 was not really understanding where our roster was placed. I was arguing that we had a team of fringe first graders and busted champions. The Turbos and DCE were the future along with a few others but we were in dire straits. Since then we have plenty of players on the rise and we are in pretty good shape to make a challenge and I'm confident about the future.
Paul
Roar Guru
not a clever comment Max.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
I think Barrett’s done a wonderful job developing Shaun Lane and his loss is massive..so where’s the light in the tunnel for this club...rumours of Marty T. wanting out,the coach fuming about lack of resources and making threats to the CEO and the signing of a defensive turnstile at 6 for next year...
Paul
Roar Guru
Thanks for a very fair reality check TB. The one recurring theme I don't understand is offloads. In the past two seasons, the Dragons second phase play in the early rounds was terrific, based on forwards hitting the line then getting a good pass away. As the season's progressed though, this aspect of their game has become almost non-existent. I wonder if this is Mary getting his side to play safety first football or whether the packs tired, or what....? In any event, this lack of adventure in attack has led to a lack of confidence in all aspects of the game and they need a serious jolt to wake them up. I don't pretend to be a coach but if I'm Mary, I'd get the guys to simply go for it in attack, anywhere from their own quarter. I don't think they have a lot to lose and maybe it might spark something. Otherwise the finals will be one and done for the mighty Dragonss.
Petra Jenkins
Guest
Blue & Gold run through my veins, very proud of my EELS ?
Mondo
Roar Rookie
Rory... out of curiosity, how long have you been a Storm fan for? I doubt Dragons supporters will mock you if you insert the words "Jamie Ainscough" into a conversation.
Farqueue
Guest
I was sarcastically laughing by the end of the first half.....that was gift wrapped for parra. 7-1 penalty count ...man in sin bin.....65% possession.. Dragons discipline 7 times worse than parra. I'm gunna call crap on that. The ref can call a penalty on every set of six for either team.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
I get where Forty Twenty is coming from, although disagree that the Saints should be the team singled out. Playing finals footy isn’t the be all and end all if you are realistically just making up the numbers. And life looks to be harder in the years to come. As an example one of the worst years I’ve experienced as a Manly fan was 2014. We were belted in the middle, players were coming to the end of their careers and you could tell we would struggle over the next period. We came equal 1st in 2014 on the ladder, but it was a hollow year. Some fans would suggest that is an exceptional season. But it wasn’t. We were cannon fodder in the finals, as expected. Our forwards were a mess, only the class in the backs won us games. It wasn’t a viable long term situation. This year Manly have been poor and their position on the ladder reflects that. But they are very young with the core group locked in. At this stage only Lane is departing. I like what I see from them and have far more hope than I did in 2014. I think that’s what Forty Twenty is getting at.
Dodgy Dragons
Roar Rookie
You’ve nailed TB. Mary doesn’t make changes unless he has to. I’ve been saying for months we have some massive problems defensively, especially our right edge. I know he dropped nightingale for this game, but Aitken should have had a spell as well. De Belin has needed a rest before origin to sort his hip problem out and has played on but definitely out of sorts. Our tackles are soft, with teams getting a roll on targeting Hunt in defence, where at the start of the year the forwards were protecting/covering him which is non existent now. We are targeting the opposition halves like we were at the start of the year because our defense is waiting for them, not moving up. It is all about attitude which has disappeared which like you said comes from the top and is a reoccurring theme from the last couple of seasons and I don’t think Mary has it in him to turn it around. So yes I do lay a lot of the blame at his feet. In saying all that, my expectations at the start of the year were for the top 8, which we should make and who knows, it might come good come finals time, but moving forward I think Mary should be on his last legs.
Wascally Wabbit
Guest
This will certainly put pressure on MacGregor. At the start of the year he said he finally has the team he wants.
jamesb
Guest
Another disappointed Dragons fan here. The decline of the team began when Penrith gave them a spanking. Since then, the Dragons are getting worse and worse by the week. Dragons did had a heavy representation during the rep period. The sad thing with Mary is he didn't give any of the players a rest, just like Bellamy, Seibold and Robinson did with their players. It comes back to poor player management from McGregor. They look burnt out. We will be lucky to win another game in 2018.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Hey Paul...tough gig. I felt for Scotty having to do the live blog. It is an outsider’s perspective but I think it’s fair enough to blame McGregor. They’ve got plenty of talent but they look bereft of any new ideas. It’s been a recurring pattern in the last few years that a tough patch in the season - which every team goes through - becomes a full on tailspin for the Dragons. A lot of that has to rest with the coach. He makes very few unforced team changes, doesn’t try anything new tactically and it seems like he’s got no idea on how to pace his team’s season. The performances over the last month in particular have been poor but more importantly the effort hasn’t been great either. Again, I think a lot of that rests with the man in charge,
The Barry
Roar Guru
No way. It’s looking unlikely but the Dragons can still turn it around. Manly are planning Mad Monday and 2019 on a reduced salary cap. I’d rather be in the eight and battling than missing out altogether.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Who cares? This is an article about the Dragons v Eels game. I said they had a soft underbelly a few weeks ago and your response was “how do you make these things up?” Then it was all because I had an anti Dragons bias. What do you think now? Dragons haven’t beaten a top 8 side since round 9. Am I still making it up? Just my anti Dragons bias?