While wins over the Brisbane Broncos have been few and far between for the St George Illawarra Dragons this decade, their gutsy 25-24 win at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night has surely got to rank as among their best against the northerners.
In his third game for his new club Corey Norman slotted a field goal with six seconds remaining to give the Red V their first win for the season and for the moment bury any criticism they have copped over the opening two rounds of the season.
It came after captain Gareth Widdop suffered a serious shoulder injury that has all but ruled him out for the year. At the time of impact he spilled a kick from Darius Boyd, which led to the Brisbane’s Jack Bird scoring a try that levelled the scores at 24-all.
But the Dragons would not falter under pressure, and after Jamayne Isaako’s field goal attempt was waved away by the wind with less than two minutes remaining, up stepped ex-Bronco Norman to win the game for the Dragons.
After 14 losses in 16 matches between August 2009 and August 2017, the Dragons have now won the last three meetings in a row, including the last two at Suncorp Stadium, the venue for many of their most memorable wins over the years.
It also kept intact Ben Hunt’s perfect record against his old team, the Dragons halfback having not lost against the Broncos since joining the Red V at the start of last season.
In fact he has only ever been on the losing side twice in all matches between the Broncos and Dragons since his debut in Round 15, 2009 – the first in Round 5, 2010, which was Darius Boyd’s 100th NRL game, and the second in Round 7, 2015, at Kogarah Oval.
Here I will rank the Dragons’ wins over the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium by order of what I think is the most impressive.
5. Dragons 20-4 Broncos – second qualifying final, 2006
Having already beaten the Broncos twice in season 2006, the Dragons returned to Brisbane in September with the confidence that it could pull off the hat-trick against Wayne Bennett’s men.
The Red V finished sixth at the end of the regular season, which under the old finals system meant they had to travel to the ground of the third-placed Broncos, who finished with the best defensive record of any side.
Undeterred by the task at hand, the Dragons would pull off an impressive 20-4 victory to stay alive in the premiership race, while the Broncos lived to fight another week as both the Storm and Bulldogs, first and second on the ladder respectively, won both their respective qualifying finals.
Nathan Brown’s side then went on to beat the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles by 28-0 in the subsequent semi-final before losing to the Melbourne Storm 24-10 in the preliminary final.
On the other hand, the Broncos would thrash the Newcastle Knights 50-6 and then come from behind to beat the Bulldogs by 37-20 in the preliminary final to qualify for its sixth grand final.
This meant that for the first time in NRL history the grand final would not feature a Sydney-based team.
To this day many Dragons fans continue to wonder what could have been given their star-studded side managed to beat the Broncos three times in 2006.
4. Dragons 18-16 Broncos – Round 15, 2006
Two nights after Queensland thrashed New South Wales 30-6 at Suncorp Stadium in the second match of the State of Origin series, the Dragons were keen to restore some state pride when they travelled up to Brisbane for this crucial Round 15 clash at the same venue.
The earlier meeting between these two sides saw the Dragons register a 26-12 victory in what was Michael Ennis’s first match against the club he represented for just one season in 2005, having been squeezed out of the side due to salary cap constraints.
However, Ennis would not suit up for the return bout, having suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Rabbitohs the following week, while Justin Hodges would not back up for the Broncos after suffering a knee injury in the second Origin match.
The Broncos started impressively, scoring through Shaun Berrigan in the eighth minute of the match, but the Dragons would hit back with two tries, one off a suspected forward pass from Ben Creagh, to take a 12-8 lead into the half time break.
After the resumption, Greg Eastwood would touch down for the Broncos to level the scores, and there would be no more tries until the death when, at 16-12 down, Brett Morris scored his first career try for the Dragons.
Mathew Head seemed destined to take the conversion until coach Nathan Brown decided that Aaron Gorrell should take it instead.
He would nail it truly, giving the Dragons an 18-16 win and their second of three wins over the eventual premiers that year.
3. Dragons 48-18 Broncos – second elimination final, 2018
After starting last year so impressively, being on top of the ladder for most of the first half of the season, post-Origin blues, injuries and poor form conspired against the Dragons as they fell to seventh place at the end of the minor premiership.
The finals draw saw them assigned to what appeared to be, on paper, a daunting elimination final showdown against the Brisbane Broncos at their Suncorp Stadium cauldron.
Although the Dragons had won their only regular-season encounter 34-12 at Kogarah Oval in the opening round, they went in as underdogs owing to a recent appalling record in Brisbane, having not won in the sunshine capital since Round 4, 2009.
The early signs were ominous as the Broncos shot out to a 10-2 lead, but a run of 26 straight points, 12 of them contributed by Tariq Sims, who scored a hat-trick of tries, would see the Dragons enter the half-time break with a handy 28-10 lead.
Paul McGregor’s men would not relent in the second half, running up another 20 points as they eased to their first finals victory since claiming the 2010 premiership under Wayne Bennett, who on this occasion was coaching the Broncos for, unknowingly, the final time.
However, the win was soured by a shoulder injury suffered by captain Gareth Widdop, which would see him sidelined for their semi-final loss to the Rabbitohs in Sydney the following round.
2. Dragons 25-24 Broncos – Round 3, 2019
Coming off a fortnight of criticism after disappointing losses to the Cowboys and Rabbitohs in the opening two rounds, the Dragons arrived in Brisbane on a mission desperate to avoid losing their first three matches of a season for the first time since 2013 and just the third time ever.
The last time the two sides met, the Dragons had registered a stunning 48-18 victory at Suncorp Stadium in the second elimination final, a result that spelt the end of Wayne Bennett’s time at Red Hill and saw the Red V win its first finals match since the 2010 grand final.
Dragons centre Euan Aitken struck a psychological blow pre-match, saying that Broncos halves Anthony Milford and Kodi Nikorima tended to crumble under pressure in high-stakes matches, such as the aforementioned elimination final.
However, new Broncos coach Anthony Seibold hit back by saying he would stick by the pair and would only make changes if either player was suspended or injured.
Korbin Sims was named to make his debut for the Dragons, lining up alongside his older brother Tariq, after he served his two-match suspension arising from a dangerous tackle in the elimination final last year.
Paul McGregor’s side started well, scoring the first two tries of the match, but the Broncos would hit back with two tries, the second a length-of-the-field effort from James Roberts, to take a 12-10 lead into half-time.
The Dragons would reclaim the lead shortly after the resumption, but whenever they went ahead, the Broncos would peg them back almost immediately after.
Korbin Sims looked to have won the match for his new side when he crossed with less than 20 minutes remaining to make it 24-18, but Jack Bird would score for the Broncos over ten minutes later after Gareth Widdop spilled the ball, suffering a serious shoulder injury in the process.
It was then up to Corey Norman to step up to kick the matchwinning field goal at the death, giving the Dragons a 25-24 victory.
1. Dragons 26-25 Broncos – Round 26, 2003
With one round to play in the 2003 season, the Dragons were next to no chance of playing finals, their hopes having been extinguished the previous Sunday when they lost 42-8 to the Newcastle Knights at Kogarah Oval.
They flew up to Brisbane with nothing to lose but were wary of a Brisbane Broncos side that had lost their last six matches and were looking to avoid a record seventh consecutive defeat.
The half-strength side, with names such as Hassan Saleh, John Wilshere and Chris Nero among others, stunned the crowd with two tries in the opening ten minutes. However, the Broncos would hit back with three unanswered tries to take an 18-12 lead into half-time.
They later led 22-18 but fell behind when Dragons hooker Mark Riddell forced his way over to score, and his subsequent conversion saw his side claim a 24-22 lead.
There was more drama to follow as Broncos prop Petero Civoniceva was sin-binned for fighting. Shortly after, centre Michael de Vere kicked a penalty goal to lock the scores at 24-all with ten minutes to play.
With six minutes to go, the Broncos appeared to have the match won when fullback Darren Lockyer slotted a field goal only for Mark Riddell to pot over an unlikely penalty goal at the death to deny the hosts their second win at the newly-rebuilt Suncorp Stadium.
While the Dragons finished their 2003 season with a morale-boosting win, the Broncos were made to sweat over the rest of the weekend to see if they would qualify for September for the 12th consecutive year, as the Parramatta Eels had the chance to steal their finals berth if they could beat minor premiers the Penrith Panthers by 28 points or more.
Luckily the Panthers would defeat the Eels at home, ensuring the Broncos qualified for the finals. However, their 28-18 loss to the eventual premiers would mark a club-record eighth straight defeat, equalled once again between Round 22, 2005, and Round 1, 2006.
Those are my top five Dragons victories over the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium. However, there are some more honourable mentions:
Round 23, 2005
In a potential grand final preview, Dragons captain Trent Barrett marshalled his side to a 24-4 victory that, until the 2018 elimination final, stood as the side’s biggest win over the Broncos.
Round 23, 2008
In his first match back at Suncorp Stadium after serving a two-year drug ban arising from his time in rugby union, Wendell Sailor would score his first NRL try since 2001 as the Dragons won by 24-20.
Round 4, 2009
In Wayne Bennett’s return to Brisbane after leaving the Broncos at the end of the previous season, the super coach had the last laugh as he guided the Dragons to a 25-12 victory, with Sailor scoring a second-half try. This was their eighth consecutive win over the northerners across all venues dating back to 2005.
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