Dragons bandwagon rolls over the Tigers

The St George Illawarra Dragons have shut down the Tigers streak tonight at Win Jubilee Oval.

The Dragons opened the scoring with a penalty goal early, followed by a rare try to the in form Darius Boyd.

The Tigers stayed in the scrappy affair up until the last ten minutes. Looking good down their left with Origin hopefulls Lote Tuqiri and Chris Lawrence.

At the end it was the defense of the Dragons that crushed the Tigers into conceding some late points to blow the scoreline out.

The Dragons big men were solid, Matt Prior being the pick of them. Jamie Soward offered a performance that may lock down an Origin jersey, despite being the victim of Lote Tuqiri tackle breaks time and again.

Robbie Farah had a strong game for the Tigers despite the lopsided scoreline and should get a start for NSW for Game 3.

Apart from the scoreline both teams look like finals sides, though based on this form, considering even a pretty solid looking Tigers side were toweled, the Dragons look a likely bet for the premiership.

Match Details
St George Illawarra Dragons 34 defeated Wests Tigers 10
National Rugby League - NRL - Round 16 - Friday June 25, 2010 7:35pm
Venue: WIN Jubilee Oval
Referee: Shayne Hayne and Jason Robinson
Video Referee: Paul Simpkins
Touch Judges: Jeff Younis and Gavin Morris
Crowd: 16574
Halftime: St George Illawarra Dragons 14 Wests Tigers 4

Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 Points - Matt Prior
2 Points - Jamie Soward (1 Try, 5 Conversions, 2 Penalty Goals)
1 Point - Robbie Farah

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS (34)
Tries: Ben Creagh, Jamie Soward, Darius Boyd, Brett Morris, Kyle Stanley
Conversions: Jamie Soward (5/5)
Penalty Goals: Jamie Soward (2/2)

WESTS TIGERS (10)
Tries: Chris Lawrence, Lote Tuqiri
Conversions: Benji Marshall (1/2)

LeagueUnlimited.com Live Commentary Late Mail for the Tigers suggests Robert Lui is definitely out with Geoff Daniela coming into the squad to replace him. Robbie Farah and Wade McKinnon both are evidently fit for the clash with the final makeup of the side not yet confirmed. It has been suggested Marshall will play at half-back with Blake Ayshford moving to the five-eighth position and Daniela coming into the run on side.
Tigers are as previously suggested. Daniela moves into the centres, Ayshford to five-eighth and Marshall to halfback. The rest of the side is as named.
Dragons only change is Jon Green dropping out of the side to accomodate Jeremy Smith who comes onto the bench. Matt Prior will be starting at lock, pushing Dean Young back to the bench with Trent Merrin moving off the bench and into the starting lineup in the front row.
1 min: Underway here at WIN Jubilee and both teams have started well. Both sets completed so far.
3 min: Lote Tuqiri touches the ball as it heads towards the dead ball line forcing him to pick it up and concede to the defense. Dragons receive good field position from a line-drop out.
4 min: Darius Boyd makes an uncharacteristic error giving up the field position. Scrum Tigers.
6 min: Robbie Farah makes a huge play stealing the ball from Jason Nightingale in the Dragons half. The Tigers then receive a penalty, they find touch 20 out from the line.
8 min: Attacking kick from Marshall early in the tackle count forces Nightingale to bump it over the dead ball line. Dragons drop out.
9 min: Boyd gathers an attacking kick from Marshall just out from the goal line. Dragons ball.
11 min: Payten drops it on halfway. Dragons have a chance here. Tigers then concede a penalty. Dragons will have excellent field position.
11 min: Ellis scoops it up nicely after an offload. Dragons looked dangerous. Good hustle from Ellis.
12 min: Farah puts in a lovely clearing kick. The Dragons will play it out from their own 10m line.
16 min: Beau Ryan is looking ginger at the moment. Seems to be a recurrence of his shoulder injury from last week.
17 min: Dragons receive a penalty after Ellis knocks Soward over after he kicked it. Dragons will take the shot at goal about ten in from the touch line.
18 min: PENALTY GOAL
Soward nails the goal. Dragons lead.
St George Illawarra Dragons 2-0
21 min: Benji comes up with a funny looking error. Classic Benji Marshall there.
22 min: Tigers with some great attacking football there. It all comes to naught though as Tuqiri loses it after being nudged over by Soward. Great work from the Tigers and great work from Soward.
25 min: TRY
Darius Boyd cuts through the Tigers to score his 3rd try ever for the Dragons. Great solo try. Great player.
St George Illawarra Dragons 8-0
27 min: Great bomb defusal by Lote Tuqiri. Dragons looking dangerous.
30 min: Amazing counter attack from the Tigers there. Tuqiri combines with Wade McKinnon who makes a 70 metre run down field to be caught by Creagh and Soward. Tigers penalty then, lucky that Creagh wasn't binned there for the pro-foul.
31 min: TRY
Chris Lawrence crosses the stripe in the corner. Tigers hit back after some great lead up work from Farah. Marshall misses the sideline conversion. Dragons still in front.
St George Illawarra Dragons 8-4
33 min: Tigers look to spread it around the Dragons but a great tackle by Jason Nightingale on Lote Tuqiri puts him into touch. Scrum for the Dragons 40 out.
36 min: Penalty to the Dragons on halfway.
36 min: Hornby throw a forward pass to Creagh. Pressure off.
37 min: Marshall throws a terrible forward pass from dummy half. Dragons get excellent field position just before half-time.
38 min: TRY
Dragons score a great try in the left corner. The Tigers defense looked shot from the moment the offload came. Kyle Stanley continues his rich vein of form. Dragons go into half-time leading 14 to 4.
45 min: TRY
The Tigers score an absolutely fantastic try. They go 100 metres in the space of a few tackles. They are back in it. Lawrence does extremely well to set up Tuqiri.
48 min: Michael Weyman drops McKinnon on his head. He shows remorse but he will be placed on report. Penalty to the Tigers. The Tigers look red hot.
48 min: Daniela puts it down in great position. Dragons relieve the pressure.
50 min: Dragons put on a great attacking move downfield. Lawrence and Tuqiri combine to defuse it but great work from the Dragons.
51 min: Luke Priddis looks to have scored here after a bust from Dean Young. He is denied after an absolutely woeful video refereeing decision. Apparently the person playing the ball, Michael Weyman, impeded a defender from tackling Priddis. A strange call indeed. Tigers breathe a massive sigh of relief.
55 min: Benji Marshall's terrible night continues, clearing a kick right into Kyle Stanley who picks it up and makes a line break. McKinnon wraps him up only for Creagh to be given a penalty. The Dragons will take a shot at goal, 40 out right in front.
56 min: PENALTY GOAL

St George Illawarra Dragons 16-10
59 min: TRY
Ben Creagh goes over after a pretty poor defensive play by Beau Ryan. Ryan allowing Brett Morris to take a jump for the ball all alone, Morris turns and hands it off to Creagh who scores. It looked like a nothing kick too.
63 min: Dragons put their foot on the line from the restart off a bounce. Line drop out. Tigers with a chance to get back in it.
64 min: Pressure off. No urgency shown by the Tigers after a wayward pass. Hornby dives on it.
65 min: Ellis knocks on. Dragons with a chance to shut this game out 40 out. Though they knock on immediately, Tigers in possession.
67 min: Tigers not dead here. They force a restart after some pretty good attacking play.
68 min: The pressure here will continue. Another set for the Tigers here after Farah forces another restart.
70 min: Penalty to the Tigers right on the tryline. Yet another set for the Tigers here.
71 min: Interesting. Going to the video ref here to see if Farah scores. Doesn't look likely.
72 min: No try, obviously.
72 min: Shocking final play option from the Tigers there. Nothing happening for them at all. The game looks beyond them at this stage.
73 min: Dragons looked to be setting up for a field goal but the ball is spilled. Tigers with 7 minutes for a miracle here.
77 min: Dragons will win this game. Payten is shoved over the sideline after an attempted left side attack from the Tigers. Dragons with a typical Dragons performance.
78 min: TRY
A massive effort from Soward. Solo try par excellence ices the game here. Dragons win again. Soward steps the whole team.
St George Illawarra Dragons 28-10
80 min: TRY
Dragons blow this score out here. They are too good. The Tigers don't deserve to lose by this much but the Dragons show no mercy and score at the death to make the scoreline look much worse than the game really was.
St George Illawarra Dragons 34-10
80 min: Dragons run out convincing winners in the end. Aside from a short period just after half time the Tigers never really looked a chance. They weren't entirely disgraced but the Dragons show their class by scoring a couple of late tries to ice it.