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A battered St George Illawarra side will be sweating on a smooth return for Jack de Belin in reserve grade on Saturday after they were beaten up 34-18 by Wests Tigers.
The under-manned Dragons never looked a chance at Bankwest Stadium on Friday night as they slumped to their third straight loss, and sixth from their past seven NRL games.
Should de Belin make a strong return in NSW Cup, it will be almost impossible to resist elevating the former Origin forward into the top grade next week.
The Dragons are expected to be without Zac Lomax (thumb) and Matt Dufty (shoulder) again in Round 13, while Josh McGuire and Tyrell Fuimaono are suspended until Round 16.
Depending on how he plays in his rugby league return at Lidcombe Oval on Saturday, de Belin could slip straight back into the NRL pack to face Brisbane on Thursday night.
“Jack de Belin’s playing for the first time tomorrow in two and a half years, so that’s the furthest things from our minds at the moment,” said Dragons coach Anthony Griffin.
“We’re bitterly disappointed with what we did tonight.”
In an anomaly for Michael Maguire’s men, all four of the Tigers’ wins this season have come against either Newcastle or the Dragons.
Earlier this month the Tigers ground out a 16-8 victory at WIN Stadium in Wollongong, but on Friday night it was the exact opposite when they started fast out of the blocks and only eased up when the game was gone.
The Dragons were thoroughly beaten up by the Tigers pack who had Luciano Leilua punching his way through the line with Adam Doueihi and Luke Brooks ruthless in attack.
The duo led a back line that thrived in the action, with James Roberts scoring a double to go with tries for Daine Laurie, David Nofoaluma and Tommy Talau.
(Photo by Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Laurie also finished with 152 running metres and two try assists to put the Dragons to the sword.
“He’s really coming along,” Maguire said of the 21-year-old fullback.
“He’s played a couple of games (for Penrith) before he got here and the more experience he has the better his connections with our spine and you can start seeing him chime in out the back.
“He’s continually growing.”
A late rally got the visitors on the board after trailing 18-0 at halftime, but second-half tries to Brayden Wiliame, Ben Hunt and Talatau Amone couldn’t pull the game back.
It’s a far cry from where the Dragons started the season after winning four straight between Rounds 2 and 5, beating just last-place Canterbury in the seven weeks since.
© AAP
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